Sri Lanka's De Silva And Kamindu Mendis Defy England In Third Test
Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva and the in-form Kamindu Mendis frustrated England with a unbroken century partnership on the second day of the third Test at the Oval on Saturday.
"Getting seven wickets for about 100 runs was very good. The quicks and (off-spinner) De Silva bowled well.
Trending
Jayasuriya, who scored a superb double century in Sri Lanka's 1998 Test triumph at the Oval, also praised De Silva and Kamindu Mendis's batting by saying: "These guys have shown character. They know that they are the last two recognised batters"
Sri Lanka scored 69 runs without loss in 17 overs of all spin bowling after tea on Saturday, with England deciding against deploying their pacemen in case the umpires halted play for bad light even earlier than they eventually did.
England quick Olly Stone defended Pope's tactics by telling Sky Sports: "It was too dark for our seamers but we tried to take the positive option.
"We thought we could take wickets with our spinners," added Stone, who had 2-28 in five overs at stumps. "But Sri Lanka played well."
Sri Lanka's innings suffered an early setback when Dimuth Karunaratne (nine) was run out by Stone's direct hit from short cover after Pathum Nissanka set off for a rash single.
Nissanka completed a fine fifty when he punched the 20-year-old Hull for four through mid-off. But the 6ft 7 inch (2 metres) tall Hull took his first Test wicket by removing Nissanka for 64 when the opener's drive was well caught by a diving Chris Woakes at cover.
And 91-4 became 93-5 when Stone had Dinesh Chandimal lbw for a duck.
De Silva celebrated his reprieve by late-cutting Lawrence for four to complete an 81-ball fifty, while the stylish Kamindu Mendis reached the landmark in a mere 60 balls.
Joe Root was also given a couple of overs with his occasional off-breaks before, amid worsening natural light, play ended for the day.
Earlier, England lost their last six wickets for 35 runs after resuming on 221-3.
Pope was then 103 not out after managing a mere 30 runs in four innings since succeeding the injured Ben Stokes as skipper at the start of this series.
Sri Lanka's wayward four-man pace attack had failed to make the most of overcast conditions and a green-tinged pitch after De Silva won the toss.
Their performance improved markedly on Saturday, although Pope contributed to his own downfall by hooking left-arm quick Vishwa Fernando to deep square leg to end a 156-ball innings including 19 fours and two sixes.
Also Read: Funding For Test Cricket
England, who whitewashed the West Indies 3-0 earlier this season, are chasing their first home Test clean sweep since 2004, when Michael Vaughan oversaw seven successive wins.
