Sri Lanka v England: third Test, day three – live!
9.33am GMT
Back come the players...
9.27am GMT
“Everyone seems to have forgotten about the Test tour to the West Indies next year,” emails Richard Graveling. “When the Lions went over recently they got a stuffing, so it could well be that the likes of Jennings, Burns, Moeen the batsman, Woakes etc will be under decent pressure for places there. I think it’s dangerous to hypothesise about Ashes teams this far out (though fun/tempting). Ignoring that straight away I actually liked the idea of Stokes at three, hints of peak Kallis and a better technique than Bairstow. Could force him to bat properly.”
I’m not ignoring that tour, I just think that the pitches and bowling will suit Jennings. Realistically, he needs one score to keep his spot and I think he’ll get that; the rest look ensconced to me, but I wonder if Woakes’ time has passed. I can’t see them dropping Curran now, and also can’t see how you can get both in. As for Stokes, I agree - I’d happily see him at three, especially if it allows another spinner.
9.16am GMT
So, England lead by 306, probably enough to win. But Sri Lanka made 240 in their first innings despite collapsing in remarkable style, so England aren’t away from them yet. They will be soon, though, if this innings isn’t knocked on the head quickly in the final session. See you in 15.
9.14am GMT
59th over: England 210-7 (Foakes 20, Rashid 21) Milking time. Foakes takes one via weep, then Rashid flicks to long on for two. He then goes back down the ground to get off strike, and Roakes takes us to tea with a swept two.
“I can never see the word ‘vernacular’ without thinking of the late great Ian Dury,” tweets Crawford, “often described as ‘The Count Dracula of spectacular vernacular...’”
9.10am GMT
58th over: England 204-7 (Foakes 17, Rashid 18) One to Rashid, then one to Foake shoved down the ground. England now lead by 300, and unless something happens very soon, they’re going to set a target that we can’t even pretend Sri Lanka might get.
9.08am GMT
57th over: England 202-7 (Foakes 16, Rashid 17) Rashid goes down the ground again to raise England’s 200, Foakes adds a further single to midwicket and then Rashid goes behind square on the leg side. Sri Lanka need to find something because these two are in no trouble whatsoever.
“When it comes to swearing, I always liked ‘Christ on a Bike!’” emails Matthew Wright. “It combines plosive power with a rhyming intensity. A guy I knew was commissioned to write a report for the Church of England on its environmental policies, and suggested that as a title. Sadly Lambeth Palace said no. Spoilsports.”
9.03am GMT
56th over: England 199-7 (Foakes 15, Rashid 15) Back to the Ashes XI, perhaps England bat so deep that Jennings can be picked as a specialist short leg - but were there an early series next summer, he might be struggling to hang on. Anyway, Pushpakumara, who’s barely bowled this innings, returns for his sixth over. one run comes from it, to Rashid down the ground.
9.00am GMT
55th over: England 198-7 (Foakes 15, Rashid 14) First boundary of the mini-session for Foakes - one of only ten this innings - clouted through cover when Sandakan is short and wide. He then gets down the other end with a single to leg, then Rashid gets to the pitch and canes four more through extra. He is enjoying his life, and adds a further single down the ground; that’s 10 off the over.
8.56am GMT
54th over: England 188-7 (Foakes 10, Rashid 9) So what does England’s XI for the Ashes look like? I guess we’re looking at: Burns, Jennings, Bairstow, Root, Stokes, Buttler, Curren, Foakes, Broad, Anderson - and then either Moeen or Rashid. I suppose they could pick both and not bother with Bairstow, or bin Foakes, but that seems unlikely. It’s tricky because Moeen bats properly (sometimes) and bowls well in English conditions, but Rashid gets good players out with unplayable deliveries. A single to each batsman off the over.
8.52am GMT
53rd over: England 186-7 (Foakes 9, Rashid 8) England take three from the first five balls of the over, then Rashid slices one more through where leg slip isn’t. Sri Lanka badly need a wicket.
“Does anyone else agree with me that Moeen Ali is starting to increasingly resemble D H Lawrence?” asks Ian Forth.
8.49am GMT
52nd over: England 183-7 (Foakes 8, Rashid 6) Quick turn for Perera as Foakes follows one around his pads but can’t catch up with it; at the other end, Rashid will be taking note. Two from the over; batting looks fairly easy again.
“My personal favourite minced oath is the Scots: ‘get tae Falkirk’,” emails Hugh Maguire. “Not often delivered with the accompanying offer to pay for a rail fare.”
8.46am GMT
51st over: England 181-7 (Foakes 7, Rashid 5) Sandakan, who’s yanked Sri Lanka back into this, deceives Foakes with the wrongun, but the ball goes a fair way past the bat. Two from the over.
8.43am GMT
50th over: England 179-7 (Foakes 6, Rashid 4) England are tickling along again now, adding three singles. I guess Sri Lanka might feel 300-320 is chaseable - it probably isn’t, but it only takes one big partnership.
“Any Guardian reader unfamiliar with mince oaths clearly wasn’t paying attention to the quiz in yesterday’s Weekend magazine,” emails Smylers.
Related: What is ‘posh bingo’, according to Julian Barnes? The Weekend quiz
8.39am GMT
49th over: England 176-7 (Foakes 5, Rashid 2) Rashid gets off the mark to midwicket, then Foakes top-edges a sweep for one more. The ball’s in a the air a while, but it’s going for him at the moment, and after Rashid gets one more, a further sweep gets him two more.
Nothing whatsoever to do with cricket - well, if you can make it relevant to cricket, let’s be having you - but this will brighten up any morning.
25 years ago, on November 23, 1993, @SnoopDogg dropped my favorite Rap album of all time: Doggystyle! Here’s a quick mix of every song on the original release! pic.twitter.com/R56koBuKM0
8.37am GMT
48th over: England 171-7 (Foakes 2, Rashid 0) Another maiden. The pitch isn’t misbehaving, so Sri Lanka won’t think themselves out of this quite yet.
“I have to say I agree with your comments about Bairstow,” emails Martin Wright. “Everyone loves YJB, but I can’t be the only one who found the anger in his ton celebrations took the shine off, rather. And I wonder how Ben Foakes felt when he banged on in post-match interviews about wanting to take over the keeping again…?”
8.34am GMT
47th over: England 171-7 (Foakes 2, Rashid 0) Wicket maiden, and the lead is 267.
“Whilst familiar with the concept and its practice as a lapsed son of the East End (cor blimey), I had no idea about the term ‘minced oath’ until Kim Thonger shone light on the subject (over 31). His invocation of ‘Heavens to Betsy’ immediately recalled from the dark, dank recesses of time the alternative phrase ‘Heavens to Murgatroyd’. This was a catchphrase of the Hanna Barbera cartoon character Snagglepuss (originally of Quickdraw McGraw fame before the Yogi Bear Show), but apparently originated with the actor Bert Rahr from the 1944 film ‘Meet The People’. In the etymological spirit of this morning, it transpires that the surname Murgatroyd may derive from the Norse ‘Moor Gate Royd’ which translates as ‘a clearing in the forest on the road to the moor’. Not many people know that, as a fellow East Ender might say.”
8.30am GMT
Sandakan spins it away from Moeen, who follows it looking to glance away; he edges, and De Silva, moving right, takes a terrific catch in the midriff, now moving left. That was going very quickly indeed, and suddenly Sri Lanka might be chasing something manageable.
8.29am GMT
46th over: England 171-6 (Moeen 22, Foakes 2) Perera nails Foakes on the pad and there’s a shout, but impact was outside the line. Two singles from the over.
“I’ve never been more happily wrong than I was about Buttler making it Test cricket. It’s not about talent, because his rubbery, fast-twitch wrists could bat on an ice rink, but it just felt he was too non-conformist and his shipown had sailed a few summers ago. But of course we’re all fools, because his cricket brain is so staggeringly good he can bat any situation. The potential for him to destroy sides in all conditions is frightening.”
8.25am GMT
45th over: England 169-6 (Moeen 21, Foakes 1) Foakes gets off the mark quickly with a crump to midwicket.
“‘Heavens to Betsy,’” begins Kevin Ryan. “Yes a superb exclamation! I can just imagine The Dude and Walter saying that to each other and to the world in general instead of that other word which was apparently used 260 times in the movie. I shall contact the Coen Brothers right now.”
8.21am GMT
Finally Buttler, coming down, runs past one that’s leg side. Dickwella swipes off the bails in short order ... but we go upstairs ... and this time Sandakan contrived to keep his foot behind the line ...just. That’s an excellent innings from Buttler, who is very rapidly developing from genius into player.
8.18am GMT
44th over: England 168-5 (Buttler 64, Moeen 21) Watching this morning’s wickets again, I notice that when Jonny Bairstow went, there was no message to his castigators. I suppose if that sense of conflict helps his game then get stuck in, but it’s not really true, is it? He seems well-liked, and people want him to make the most of his talent, which he’s not been doing lately, and a ton at three in a dead rubber doesn’t prove anything to anyone. I’d love to see him make a go of it there, but I’m not sure his high backswing and propensity to get himself out when set will come over in England and against better attacks. Moeen sees out a maiden.
8.13am GMT
Morning all and thanks Rob - the players are having a quick nip, and don’t Sri Lanka need one. England are away, and it’s very hard to see how they avoid a whitewash from here. They don’t look like taking a wicket, never mind five, and the current lead already looks like plenty.
8.11am GMT
43rd over: England 168-5 (Buttler 64, Moeen 21) England continue to help themselves to risk-free singles, with four more in that Sandakan over to take the lead to 264. That’s it from me. The great Daniel Harris will be with you for the rest of the day – you can email or tweet him as you wish. Bye!
8.08am GMT
42nd over: England 164-5 (Buttler 62, Moeen 19) Buttler has played with such authority in this innings. He came in when England were 39 for four and in danger of a good old-fashioned farce, yet he has breezed to 62 from 75 balls without a negative thought in the world.
8.05am GMT
41st over: England 160-5 (Buttler 60, Moeen 17) It’s all very low-key at the moment. England have stealthily moved into a strong position, with a lead of 256 on a wearing pitch.
8.01am GMT
40th over: England 157-5 (Buttler 59, Moeen 15) Buttler survives an optimistic LBW appeal after charging Perera. The ball straight sharply from around the wicket but there was too much guesswork for the umpire. It was probably bouncing over the top.
7.59am GMT
39th over: England 155-5 (Buttler 58, Moeen 14) SrI Lanka are starting to look a little forlorn. Sandakan, who dismissed Ben Stokes twice with no-balls in the morning session, returns to the attack and is milked for three singles.
7.52am GMT
38th over: England 152-5 (Buttler 56, Moeen 13) “If the batting side were given an extra DRS review every time the bowling side bowled a no ball, the captain of the bowling side would jolly quickly chivvy his chuckers into controlling their footwork properly?” sniffs Kim Thonger. “Wouldn’t work in village cricket of course, but making the side offending most buy all the post-match beer might.”
7.49am GMT
37th over: England 149-5 (Buttler 54, Moeen 12) Since his recall Buttler is England’s leading runscorer, with 750 at an average of 47 and a strike rate of 68. Those are superb numbers, especially when you consider that most of the pitches have offered a bit to the bowlers.
7.46am GMT
36th over: England 147-5 (Buttler 53, Moeen 11) Moeen edges Perera short of slip and away for four and then Buttler reaches a quietly brilliant half-century from 59 balls. It’s been a smart, assertive and fleet-footed performance.
7.40am GMT
35th over: England 138-5 (Buttler 49, Moeen 6) Moeen has started watchfully. He’s such a dangerous player in a situation like this, because he could easily lace 70 from 90 balls. For now he is dealing in singles and has six from 13.
7.37am GMT
34th over: England 135-5 (Buttler 48, Moeen 4) A good over from Perera, who has been by far Sri Lanka’s best bowler in this series.
7.34am GMT
33rd over: England 132-5 (Buttler 47, Moeen 2) Moeen has had a poor series with the bat, averaging 11, though his bowling makes up for that.
“There is indeed no excuse for a slow bowler to be called for no-balls, but it can be understood if you consider something similar in other sports,” says John Starbuck. “Tennis foot-faults, trying to cheat a few more yards at a football free-kick or throw-in, endless dodgy business in the rugby codes; there’s something enticing about putting one over on the opposition and referee which appeals to certain sensibilities. It makes no difference at all in creating an advantage but still people do it.”
7.30am GMT
32nd over: England 128-5 (Buttler 45, Moeen 0) “Leo Nine surely speaks for the existential dread in us all as he returns wearily from his morning dip and contemplates an afternoon of bridge at the British Club in Bangkok - further compounded by his angst at the quality of the cricket coverage intruding amongst Sky’s normal betting programming (over 19),” says Brian Withington. “To be serious for a moment, the scourge of gambling and its advertising is little short of a national disgrace, but I don’t think we can entirely blame Sky’s owners for that (although on reflection I can feel an argument stirring). There was another piece in the Guardian earlier about the subject but can’t find the link - author suggested that children should be taught about the perniciousness of bookies’ odds making in school. A worthy aspiration, but I’m not sure it would be any more effective than pointing out the perils of drink, drugs, fags and unprotected sex. If nothing else, I suggest we might at least ban the adverts that purport to tell us to stop gambling ‘when the fun stops’ - where hypocrisy meets tokenism and still turns a profit.”
As with most of modern society’s soul-selling ills, it feels like it’s too late to do much about it.
7.28am GMT
Stokes has gone this time. He danced down the track to Perera but didn’t get to the pitch and dragged the ball to long on, where Pushpakumara took a good low catch. Stokes was caught off Sandakan no-balls twice in the morning session; this time Perera kept his foot behind the line.
7.23am GMT
31st over: England 122-4 (Stokes 37, Buttler 45) Stokes reverse-sweeps Dhananjaya solidly for a couple. England’s lead is a very handy 218 and they are surely going to win this game.
“The discussion of bugger led me down memory lane,” says Kim Thonger. “I used to work in New York and once exclaimed ‘oh bugger’ in rather a large meeting. The entire throng gazed upon me with a collective firmly raised eyebrow. I felt obliged to find an alternative thereafter. I settled on ‘heavens to Betsy’, acceptable in all corners of Manhattan, but not much use on a cricket pitch, far too flimsy. Apparently it’s a ‘minced oath’, a sub-group of euphemisms used to avoid swearing when expressing surprise or annoyance. I dare say the Aussies have trained themselves to use it now they are reformed genteel characters.”
7.20am GMT
30th over: England 117-4 (Stokes 33, Buttler 44) Buttler sweeps Perera for a couple, scampering back for a bonus second run. There is more than one way to counter-attack, and England have put pressure on Sri Lanka with their running as much as their strokeplay. Buttler is such an impressive, resourceful cricketer, who tailors every innings to the conditions and match situation. A top-edged sweep lands safely and brings him two more runs later in the over.
“Hi Rob,” says Thomas Hinton. “Always good to start the day with a bit of etymology to make up for an England wobble. Just to add to Danny Edmunds’ account (over 24), ‘Bulgarian’ was less to do with belonging to the Orthodox Church and more specifically about certain dualist heresies that were seen as related to Bogomilism, which originated in the Bulgarian Empire. Specifically, in Western Europe, the southern French folk who took up Catharism were sometimes called Bogomils or Bulgars. That might give us a plausible start date for the term ‘bugger’, since Catharism appears in France in the late 12th/early 13th century. Give it a few years to transfer in English and you might be looking at mid-13th century, maybe? Also, I’m not sure why the term would need to come into English through Dutch, even if this is what the OED claims. Large numbers of the clergy in England were English-French bilinguals until the late 14th century, as were up to a fifth of the general population, so it makes more sense that (like so many other words) it would have transferred straight across from the French ‘bougre’.”
7.15am GMT
29th over: England 111-4 (Stokes 32, Buttler 39) Keaton Jennings fell to the first ball of the morning session and now Jos Buttler has been dropped off the first ball after lunch, a very sharp legside chance to Dickwella off the bowling off Dhananjaya. It would have been a brilliant catch.
“Morning Rob,” says Ben Heywood. “It’s shedding it down here in Montenegro. Danny Edmunds may have uncovered the origin of the phrase ‘bugger all’, but for me its finest usage - after a fashion - will always be from the famous Hungarian film director of the 30s, Michael Curtiz. His English was so famously strangled that he once demanded that more ‘empty horses’ were brought onto set, and was fond of declaring that ‘next time I send a fool to get something, I send myself’.
“Well, one day, while filming Charge of the Light Brigade, he lost his rag with Errol Flynn and David Niven, who were both winding him up about his frequent slips of the tongue. Famously, he raged: ‘You buggering people! You think I know bugger nothing! Well, let me tell you - I know bugger all!’.
6.34am GMT
28th over: England 110-4 (Stokes 32, Buttler 38) That’s lunch. It can sometimes be difficult to stay awake on these overnight shifts but not when the cricket is as exciting as that. England lost four early wickets before Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler counter-attacked to add 71 in 14 overs. But they both had escapes. Buttler was given out LBW, only for the decision to be overturned on review, and Stokes was twice caught off no-balls from the wrist spinner Sandakan. The upshot is that England lead by 206 runs and are still on course for their biggest ever victory in a Test series in Asia.
6.31am GMT
This is ridiculous. Sandakan produced a beauty to get Stokes caught at slip, but for the second time replays showed he had overstepped. That is desperate stuff.
6.28am GMT
27th over: England 106-4 (Stokes 31, Buttler 36) Stokes’ batting form hasn’t been great since his return - his last century was against West Indies in 2017 - so these are useful runs. His place will never be under threat, but a big score would give him some peace of mind.
6.23am GMT
26th over: England 103-4 (Stokes 29, Buttler 35) Stokes turns Sandakan wide of leg slip for four to bring up the hundred. England have really gone after Sandakan, whose four overs have cost 32. That’s not good in a lowish-scoring game like this.
“Hi Rob,” says Phil White. “Read a brilliant interview with Robin Smith yesterday in October’s Cricketer mag, and was delighted to learn that you’re ghosting his autobiography. Had no idea he’d has such problems post-retirement, great to read that he’s got his life back on track. Any idea when it will be out?”
6.19am GMT
25th over: England 96-4 (Stokes 24, Buttler 33) Buttler gets a leading edge that loops over Dhananjaya’s head for two. It hasn’t always been convincing, but this counter-attack has pushed England’s lead to a healthy 192.
“What is all this talk of apps and smartphones?” says Ian Copestake. “It’s 1972 after all.”
6.15am GMT
24th over: England 92-4 (Stokes 23, Buttler 30) Stokes slaps Sandakan straight to cover, only for replays to show it was a no-ball. Dear me, that’s such shoddy cricket. Spinners bowling no-balls is right up there on the list of modern society’s ills.
“Morning Rob,” says Danny Edmunds. “ “Bugger” is derived from Middle Dutch and in turn derived from the old French word for “heretic” which was “bougre”. That in turn comes from Medieval Latin “Bulgarus” (“bulgarian”) in particular meaning an individual belonging to the Orthodox rather than the Latin church (as you know, the Ortodox and Latin churches split in 1054). By the 16th century “bugger” was being used in English to mean “sodomite”, due to the association of sodomy with heresy. “Bugger all” itself seems to come in to common use in the early 20th century, one source giving the first recorded use as 1945, another suggesting it is one of the panoply of swear words that comes out of the First World War.”
6.08am GMT
23rd over: England 87-4 (Stokes 21, Buttler 27) I thought Buttler was gone, that it would be umpire’s call at worst for Sri Lanka. But there is a lot more bounce in this pitch and that saved him.
6.07am GMT
Jos Buttler is reprieved on review! He was given out LBW to a fine delivery from the new bowler Dhananjaya de Silva, but he went upstairs and replays showed it was bouncing over the top of middle stump.
6.03am GMT
Related: 'Raw' England captain Heather Knight rues 'disappointing' World T20 final
6.02am GMT
22nd over: England 85-4 (Stokes 20, Buttler 27) Majestic stuff from Buttler, who walks down the track to whack consecutive deliveries from Sandakan into the leg side for four. He was so quick on his feet that he turned both balls into low full tosses. This has been a terrific, cold-eyed counter-attack from Buttler, who has 27 from 24 balls.
5.58am GMT
21st over: England 76-4 (Stokes 19, Buttler 19) Buttler has been very positive, using his feet at every opportunity to the spinners. This is great fun to watch, with both teams on the attack. This part have added 37 in seven overs.
“At the risk of also being shamed for my first world privilege, I feel compelled to share some of Richard Smyth’s pain (over 12) at the way the App so frustratingly hides the contact details of its leading lights,” says Brian Withington. “Judging by your uncharacteristically tart reply, I can only assume that Richard must be your brother, however heavy he might be?”
5.53am GMT
20th over: England 71-4 (Stokes 17, Buttler 16) The wrist spinner Lakshan Sandakan replaces Pushpakumara and starts with an eventful over. Stokes drags a sweep fine for four, is beaten by a jaffa and then reverse sweeps just over the man at slip. Buttler makes it 12 from the over with an emphatic drive past mid-off for four.
“Just putting the finishing touches to a piece of writing set in 2035,” says Martin Wright. “Which leads me (by way of typical writer’s procrastination) to wonder if any of the current squad will still be playing for England then? Or if not, any current young blades on the county circuit?”
5.50am GMT
19th over: England 59-4 (Stokes 13, Buttler 9) Stokes belts Perera for his first boundary, and I’m happy to report that we have a picture once more.
“Hello from Bangkok, where I’m back from my morning swim and off, shortly, for an afternoon”s bridge at the British Club...” says Leo Nine. I was in Galle for the first Test - great fun, of course, though I did wish for a closer match, which we might well now get in Colombo. I watched a little of this match on Sky at the pub yesterday evening and was very disappointed in what can only be described as Sky’s between-ads coverage. I had naturally wanted to see all the wickets that had fallen but they only showed a nano-montage of Rashid’s five-fer before returning to their mission of enticing us all to gamble more (no interest) using our smartphones (don’t have one). It occurred to me that this pathetically appalling presentation might be partly the reason why fewer and fewer people are following - or being drawn into - the game. Any comments from other readers?”
5.44am GMT
18th over: England 52-4 (Stokes 7, Buttler 8) “Morning, Rob,” says John Starbuck. “No idea about ‘bugger all’ though ‘sod all’ is a similar phrase, but what about short leg? It’s become a really effective position in this series, so are there any stats about catches/run-outs thence? How good do you have to be to become a specialist at any position in the field?”
I’m sure there are unofficial stats but nothing that has troubled our friend Statsguru. I suspect you’d have to be inhumanly good to be a specialist fielder in any position.
5.40am GMT
17th over: England 47-4 (Stokes 6, Buttler 5) We are having a few technical problems, in solidarity with the England batsmen.
5.36am GMT
16th over: England 44-4 (Stokes 5, Buttler 3) England, who lead by 140, will want to set Sri Lanka a target of at least 250. The pitch is doing a bit for the spinners but it’s far from unplayable.
5.29am GMT
15th over: England 42-4 (Stokes 4, Buttler 2) That’s drinks. Sri Lanka would have been happy with two wickets in the first hour; instead they took four, including the big one of Joe Root, and are back in the match. England lead by 138 runs.
5.26am GMT
14th over: England 39-4 (Stokes 3, Buttler 0) It was another soft dismissal. Root tried to turn to leg and got a leading edge back towards the bowler, who swooped to his left to take an excellent low catch.
“Love to wake up and have breakfast with OBO open,” says Jim Todd. “Tanzania is half way between UK and Sri Lanka, so 7:30 is an ideal start time. Interested in your use of the term ‘bugger all’. Where does the term come from, and why does it denote little or no activity (as in Chelsea’s corner yesterday)?”
5.25am GMT
England seem determined to ensure, one way or another, that we all get Tuesday off. Root has gone, caught off his bowling by Pushpakumara. I missed the dismissal due to a frozen screen but I’m sure we’ll see a replay in a second.
5.20am GMT
13th over: England 36-3 (Root 5, Stokes 1) The new batsman is Ben Stokes, who has had problems with Perera in this series. Another quick wicket would put Sri Lanka right back in this game.
“On the East cost of the USA, the start time is OK for some listening before bed,” says Mark Zip. “GuerillaCricket.com, of course, because it’s not geoblocked. Of course, it does mean that one sleeps through the last session of the day. Wish I’d heard yesterday’s last session.”
5.17am GMT
Jonny Bairstow falls to a brilliant catch at short leg by the substitute Kaushal Silva. He flicked Perera firmly off the pads, and Silva somehow took a stunning reaction catch by his left shoulder. Perera has three wickets and England are in a bit of bother.
5.14am GMT
12th over: England 33-2 (Bairstow 14, Root 5) Bairstow gets the first boundary of the day with a confident clip through midwicket off the new bowler Pushpakumara. After a slow start to the innings, England are now greedily gobbling up runs. It helps that Bairstow and Root run so well together. They lead by 129.
“Morning, Rob!” says Richard Smyth. “Some of us are awake (with atrociously wakeful babies) and following the OBO - but there’s nowhere I can see on the app that tells me how to email you. I had to access via my browser, like a peasant.”
5.09am GMT
11th over: England 25-2 (Bairstow 8, Root 3) That’s a tame end to a promising debut series from Burns, who made 155 runs at 25.83. Joe Root, the new batsman, scampers singles off each of his first three deliveries. He’ll change the tempo of the innings.
“Our boiler packed up yesterday,” says Sam Tudor, “so I volunteered to get up at 4.30am today to turn on the emergency fan heater. My wife thinks this time was the result of a complex calculation, taking into account the thermal mass of our house, the rating of the heater and her rising time of 8.30am. Still missed the wicket though.”
5.04am GMT
Rory Burns has gone! He didn’t even bother to discuss a review with Jonny Bairstow. It was tossed up by Perera, and Burns simply missed a flick across the line. I know I said this about Jennings but Burns really was plumb.
5.02am GMT
10th over: England 20-1 (Burns 7, Bairstow 6) Bairstow plays a couple of cracking drives without piercing the field. The ball is doing the square root of bugger all for Lakmal, who will surely take himself out of the attack sooner rather than later.
“Just worried you were lonely,” says Jesse Linklater. “I’m here in snowy Montreal, following the OBO, trying not to drift off to sleep.”
4.56am GMT
9th over: England 16-1 (Burns 6, Bairstow 5) An unplayable delivery from Perera turns the wrong way and beats Bairstow outside off stump. He looks a real threat today. Bairstow has a flustered sweep at the next ball, misses and is hit on the pad. Chris Gaffaney rejects Sri Lanka’s LBW appeal and they don’t discuss a review. It looked pretty close, though it may have done too much.
“Jennings was very good at getting his body in the way of the ball yesterday,” says Romeo. “He’s continued today.”
4.52am GMT
8th over: England 12-1 (Burns 3, Bairstow 5) A maiden fae Lakmal to Bairstow.
“There seems to be much surprise that Keaton Jennings is such a good fielder, yet it is in his genes,” says Kevin Thornton. “His father Ray, the Transvaal wicket-keeper of the apartheid era, was known as Jet Jennings because he was so quick behind the stumps he seemed rocket-propelled. Ray was a more than useful lower-order batter who was also not overly fond of the quick bowlers.”
4.46am GMT
7th over: England 12-1 (Burns 3, Bairstow 5) Perera rips one past Bairstow and down the leg side for three byes. Sri Lanka know they need early wickets and have men round the bat. England might need to sit in for the first hour, though that doesn’t come naturally to Bairstow. The lead is 108.
4.42am GMT
6th over: England 7-1 (Burns 2, Bairstow 4) The captain Suranga Lakmal starts at the other end to Bairstow, who gets a thick edge all along the ground for three. Burns defends the rest of the over.
Anyone out there?
4.36am GMT
5th over: England 4-1 (Burns 2, Bairstow 1) That Jennings LBW was nowhere near as plumb as I thought; replays showed it was just hitting the outside of leg stump. Jennings ends a mixed series with 233 runs at an average of 47, 146 of which came in the second innings at Galle.
4.31am GMT
Keaton Jennings falls to the first ball of the day! He played defensively outside the line at a good delivery from Perera which skidded on and kept low before hitting him on the pad. That looked plumb.
4.30am GMT
Rory Burns and Keaton Jennings stroll out of the tunnel into the hot, hot heat of Colombo. Dilruwan Perera is going to open the bowling.
3.54am GMT
Some pre-play reading
Related: England’s Keaton Jennings holds aces to turn match against Sri Lanka
Related: Adil Rashid magic puts England in control of third Test against Sri Lanka
3.30am GMT
Women’s World T20 England were, alas, well beaten by Australia in the final in Antigua. They never really recovered from a terrible 11-ball spell at the start of their innings in which Amy Jones was briliantly run out and Nat Sciver was trapped LBW by Ellyse Perry. Australia were just too good.
Related: Australia sink England to claim Women's World T20 title
6.53pm GMT
Morning. Those of us who predicted a 3-0 whitewash before this series would be feeling pretty smug if we had only named the correct winning team. England were supposed to go the way of Australia and South Africa, who were hammered on turning pitches in Sri Lanka. Instead they are closing in on their biggest ever victory in the subcontinent. Their best is the famous 3-1 win in India in 1976-77, but a farce-free batting performance today should ensure the aforementioned whitewash.
England will resume on three for none in their second innings, a lead of 99, after a dramatic final session in which the brilliance of Ben Stokes, Adil Rashid and Keaton Jennings induced a spectacular collapse - the kind of collapse, in fact, that we expected from England in these conditions. It’s nice to be so emphatically wrong.
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