Cricket - Second Test - England v Sri Lanka - Lord's Cricket Ground, London, Britain - September 1, 2024 Sri Lanka's Dimuth Karunaratne in action Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers
LONDON (Reuters) - Sri Lanka battled to 136-4 against England by lunch at Lord's on Sunday as they sought to deny the hosts an unassailable 2-0 lead in the test series after being set an unlikely 483 to win.
Nightwatchman Prabath Jayasuriya (4) was first out, edging Chris Woakes into Harry Brook's hands in the slips after he and Dimuth Karunaratne added seven to the overnight total of 53-2.
Karunaratne (55) then struck a positive tone, hitting Gus Atkinson for three fours in one over on his way to the first half-century by an opener in the series.
He and Angelo Mathews had looked set to steer the visitors to lunch for only the loss of Jayasuriya but Karunaratne fended a sharp lifter from Olly Stone into wicketkeeper Jamie Smith's gloves to bring an end to a resolute innings.
England's quartet of pace bowlers exerted pressure on Sri Lanka throughout the morning session but failed to establish full control as positive play from the visitors ensured a steady flow of boundaries.
Spinner Shoaib Bashir went wicketless despite extracting significant turn and bounce from the pitch, as Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal dug in until lunch.
England's stand-in skipper Ollie Pope endured a mixed morning, overseeing two unsuccessful reviews, several close run out chances and a difficult catch dropped by Joe Root.
Former captain Root had previously built England's commanding position in the match, scoring back-to-back centuries to become his country's all-time top scorer of test hundreds with his 33rd and 34th.
England need to hunt down the remaining six wickets while Sri Lanka, despite their steadfast start to the day, must survive through to the close on Monday for the draw or notch up an improbable 347 more runs to level the series.
(Reporting by Lawrence White; editing by Ken Ferris)
