England bounced back after being spun out cheaply by Sri Lanka to leave the first Test evenly poised at the Galle International Stadium on Tuesday.
At the end of an eventful second day’s play in which 17 wickets tumbled on a slow pitch, Sri Lanka led the tourists by 209 runs with five second innings wickets in hand.
Left-arm spinner Rangana Herath grabbed six wickets as England were bowled out for 193 in their first innings after skipper Mahela Jayawardene’s 180 had lifted Sri Lanka to 318 earlier in the day.
But the hosts slumped to 5-84 in their second knock, four of those wickets falling to off-spinner Graeme Swann, to set up a thrilling finale.
Swann, who failed to take a wicket in the first innings, ripped through the top order in the final session of play, including the dismissals of senior pros Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara.
At stumps, Dinesh Chandimal was unbeaten on 17 and Suraj Randiv was on two.
“It’s going to be a hard Test match to win,” said Jayawardene. “We definitely need 70 to 80 more runs and anything above that will be a bonus.
“We still need to do the hard work with the bat and ball and try and create opportunities.”
Jayawardene, asked by an English journalist whether the tourists had a technical or mental problem in playing spin, responded: “To be honest, a bit of both actually.
“But the wicket is not easy to get runs on. They are still a quality batting unit. We can’t afford to be complacent just because they got bowled out cheaply in the first innings.”
England lasted just 46.4 overs as the world’s No.1 Test side, still to recover from a 3-0 thrashing by Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates earlier this year, fumbled again against spin.
Ian Bell top-scored with 52, but England lost their way before defiant batting by the tailenders pushed the total from a shaky 6-92.
Stuart Broad smashed 28 in a 30-run partnership for the seventh wicket with Bell, taking 18 runs in four balls from seamer Suranga Lakmal that included three boundaries and a six.
Swann’s 24 runs came from six fours and England’s tail prospered further when James Anderson (23 not out) and Monty Panesar (13) put on 36 runs for the last wicket.
England will slip to No.2 behind South Africa in the official rankings if they lose the two-Test series, but Bell insisted all was not lost yet in this match.
“Honestly, the wicket is not a bad one at all,” he said. “The game is still on and, if we can put up a good performance, it can still be a very good Test match for England.
“Every run is going to be crucial from now. So we’ll have to back the bowlers up in the field and then bat better and knock off some runs.
“It’s been disappointing not to have backed our bowlers, who have been outstanding in this Test. We have been working hard to play spin well, but that will not happen overnight.”
