Sri Lanka vs England: All you need to know from day two in Kandy

Roshen Silva's crucial knock, a first-innings lead for Sri Lanka and Ben Stokes' brilliance. All you need to know from day two of the second Test in Kandy...

SCORECARD | AS IT HAPPENED | HIGHLIGHTS

The Report

Roshen Silva inspired a lower-order fightback as Sri Lanka earned a precious 46-run first-innings lead over England on day two of the second Test in Kandy, writes Oli Burley.

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Moment of the day

Having toiled in the field for more than an hour and a half in the morning session with the wicket of nightwatchman Malinda Pushpakumara their only reward, England were being to look a little short of ideas. Dimuth Karunaratne and Dhananjaya de Silva's partnership was approaching three figures and with his spinners losing patience and trying to force the issue, Joe Root had been forced to revert to seam and bring on Jimmy Anderson to try and wrestle back some control.

Anderson kept things tight but his threat was limited. Instead it took a moment of brilliance in the field to make the breakthrough. Dhananjaya dropped the ball into the offside and set off for a quick single, Ben Stokes rushed around from gully, swooped and with just one stump to aim at, hit his target to leave Karunaratne short of his ground.

Having freed up an end, England quickly got another wicket, with Stokes central to it again, taking a stunning reaction catch after Jack Leach had located Kusal Mendis' edge. Sri Lanka hit back to take a first-innings lead but without Stokes' intervention late in the morning session, England could have been facing a far greater deficit.

Stat of the day

In Tests in 2018, Dimuth Karunaratne is averaging 53.77. No other opener is averaging over 40 - Dean Elgar is next in the list with 36.81. (CricViz)

Talking point

Having been rightly praised for their performance in Galle, England's spinners endured a frustrating day at the Pallekele International Stadium. Early on they were guilty of trying too hard to force the issue and lacked the patience that had served them so well in the first Test.

In doing so, they offered up too many loose deliveries that allowed the Sri Lankan batsmen to keep the score ticking over at a good rate.

Once the Karuaratne-Dhananjaya stand was broken, there is no doubt that they looked threatening, in particular Leach and Adil Rashid. However, from there, the big problem was consistency or, must accurately, the lack thereof.

Accusations of inconsistency are nothing new for Rashid and he best illustrated the point again today. He bowled a fine spell after lunch but for much of the day switched from a sublime leg-break to a rank long-hop from one ball to the next, and he was not alone. Moeen Ali, too, offered up too many freebies to Sri Lanka and even the usually metronomic Leach lost his rhythm for a spell.

Of course, they took three wickets apiece so it is not all doom and gloom but England will need them at their best come the fourth innings. First though, the batsmen need to do their bit and set Sri Lanka a difficult total to chase.

What they said

JACK LEACH: "We are a bit disappointed they got a 46-run lead - we felt we could even have a bit of a lead or at least be level. We know if we bat well the pressure will be on Sri Lanka batting last. We feel we can definitely win."

MICHAEL ATHERTON: "I think it's level pegging. Sri Lanka's lead is cancelled out by the fact England will be bowling last on the surface, which should be an advantage. England need more consistency from their spinners - Leach was the best before lunch and Rashid bowled poorly but Rashid probably bowled his best spell of the series after lunch. When he drops it he got some ripping sidespin."

VIKRAM SOLANKI: "[Ben Stokes] always wants to be involved and has the ability to match that up, to hit that one stump is, in itself, a fantastic piece of work really but to have the presence of mind to know which end to throw at, that's quite exceptional. Then you saw another piece of brilliance with catch he took. Just quite outstanding."

DAVID LLOYD: "Rashid is the key bowler for England, if he can get more consistency - there is all sorts coming down. But he's a very phlegmatic character. I don't think he's ever going to say 'I'm not going to bowl'."

Tweets of the day