Kamindu Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal turn tables for Sri Lanka in unbroken stand

By Andrew Miller (ESPNcircinfo)- Sri Lanka 236 and 291 for 6 (Kamindu 101*, Chandimal 62*) lead England 358 (Smith 111, Brook 56, Asitha 4-102) by 169 runs

Kamindu Mendis brought up a brilliant third Test century as he and Dinesh Chandimal turned Sri Lanka’s daunting match situation on its head in an unbroken stand of 101 runs in 26.2 overs on the fourth morning at Emirates Old Trafford.

By lunch, Kamindu was unbeaten on 101 with Chandimal on 62, after a session that included a 30-minute rain delay plus a brief sighting of the second new ball that looks set to be crucial to England’s hopes of curtailing Sri Lanka’s lead. But, with five minutes remaining of the session, Kamindu cut Chris Woakes for the 13th boundary of his innings to march through to three figures from 167 balls, with no sign that his appetite is likely to be sated in a hurry.

Having let a promising position slip with the ball on the third morning, Sri Lanka’s focus with the bat was unwavering as they resumed on 204 for 6, with a slender lead of 82. By lunch, they had extended that advantage to a very handy 169, by which stage England’s problems had been compounded by the absence of their fastest bowler, Mark Wood. He left the field after feeling a twinge in his right thigh on Friday evening, and may now be a doubt for the rest of the series.

There had been some controversy overnight about the advantageous nature of a ball-change after the 41st over that allowed England’s seamers to obtain significant swing on the third evening. However, after 20 further overs of wear and tear, there was little lateral movement on show as Kamindu seized on a hint of width in Woakes’ first over to flash his first boundary of the day through point.

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That set the tone for a proactive half-hour, with Chandimal following his partner’s lead as he built on his overnight 20 not out. He soon picked off two boundaries in a 13-run over off Gus Atkinson, neither of them quite timed, though the intent was plain as he focused on seizing his scoring opportunities while the ball was offering little.

The fact that Chandimal was there at all was remarkable, given the gruesome blow to the thumb that Wood had inflicted on the third afternoon. He had retired hurt on 10, but after an X-ray had given him the all-clear, returned with no ill-effects as he marched on through to a 73-ball half-century with a nudged single into the covers off Shoaib Bashir.

Ollie Pope rang the changes for England, but none of them had any answer to a burgeoning stand. Kamindu came into this contest with an average in excess of 100 after two centuries and an unbeaten 92 in his three previous Tests, and the range of his strokeplay was apparent in back-to-back boundaries off Atkinson, driven and pulled respectively, plus a ruthless eye for anything loose from the spin of Bashir.

By the time of a heavy cloud burst, he had moved along to 90 not out, and when play resumed with an over of spin apiece from Dan Lawrence and Joe Root to hasten the arrival of the new ball, Kamindu was waiting to cash in, with a nudge for two off his pads and the decisive slash through deep third, to send England into lunch with a real battle on their hands.