England were left to rue the absence of injured Mark Wood as Kamindu Mendis led Sri Lanka’s fightback with a century on day four of the first Test at Old Trafford.
Wood left the field mid-over on Friday evening and was subsequently ruled out with a thigh problem, robbing the hosts of their fastest bowler as they attempted to wrap up Sri Lanka’s innings and push for victory in Manchester on Saturday.
Without his pace and penetration, the hosts failed to take a wicket in the morning session as the composed Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal put on 87 chanceless runs.
The tourists reached 6-291 at lunch, an increasingly handy lead of 169, with the composed Kamindu bringing up his third Test ton in six innings shortly after a rain delay.
Gus Atkinson may have been feeling particularly sheepish, having dropped the centurion on 39 earlier in the innings.
England arrived with high hopes of bundling their opponents out early after breaking Angelo Mathews’ resistance late on day three but instead found themselves on the back foot as they conceded eight boundaries in the first hour.
Chris Woakes produced a beauty to beat the bat with the first ball of the day but that was a rarity as Kamindu progressed serenely to 90 not out and Chandimal reached an unbeaten 57.
Chandimal would have been happier than most about Wood’s absence, having retired hurt on Friday following a 90mph blow to the hand.
It took X-rays to confirm he had escaped a fracture and he showed plenty of heart to play his part in Sri Lanka’s resistance.
England were a little flat as they searched for the breakthrough, Atkinson at one stage shipping 25 off two overs and Shoaib Bashir struggling to make an impact with his off-spin.
Bashir had 0-77 off his 20 overs when the weather turned. Mendis was stranded on 90 when the covers came on but the skies cleared to allow four more overs before the interval.
That was enough for him to reach his landmark, cutting Woakes for a boundary shortly after the introduction of the new ball.
Source Agencies
