By Jonathan Stevenson

The extraordinary Jayawardene celebrates his fourth ton at Galle

Captain Mahela Jayawardene hit a Sri Lanka record 21st Test century - his sixth against England - as the visitors hopes of levelling the series suffered.

Jayawardene batted through the second day of the final Test, taking the score on to 384-6 with his 149 not out.

He put on 149 with Tillakaratne Dilshan (84) and an unbroken 97 with Chaminda Vaas (46no) before bad light hit.

England took their two wickets in successive overs before tea but missed three chances on a tough day.

Interview: Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene

Interview: England coach Peter Moores

Alastair Cook was responsible for the run-out of Dilshan and Ravi Bopara got his first Test wicket, having Prasanna Jayawardene caught behind.

However Mahela Jayawardene's batting has made it unlikely that England will be able to force a win in Galle - a victory they need to level the series.

Play was once again delayed after heavy overnight rain left the outfield saturated, the groundstaff working miracles to get things under way an hour and a half late at 0530 GMT.

England needed early wickets to move the game forward, with the forecast for the remaining three days suggesting rain would continue to play a big part.

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They had their first chance in the second over of the day when Dilshan flashed at a Ryan Sidebottom delivery and Cook put down a decent chance at gully.

Dilshan continued to play his shots, with two stunning drives off one Matthew Hoggard over the highlight of a low-key morning session.

At the other end, Jayawardene was much more circumspect, scoring just 20 in a morning session lasting an hour and a half.

He should have been out just before lunch, having nicked a Hoggard delivery, but England keeper Matt Prior seemed to pull his left hand out of the way instead of going for the catch.

England's chance now rested on the new ball, which was taken five overs after lunch, with Hoggard and Sidebottom immediately making it swing in the overcast conditions.

Sidebottom found Dilshan's outside edge but Prior, having a difficult time behind the stumps, could not hold on to a one-handed catch he should have taken.

Dilshan soon passed 50 and the pair brought up their century stand as Sri Lanka started to take firm control of proceedings.

Sidebottom and England's bowlers endured a frustrating day

Hoggard was frustrated again when Dilshan appeared to glove one down the leg side that Prior managed to cling on to, but umpire Daryl Harper turned down the vociferous appeals.

England appeared to breathe new life into the game with their double strike just before tea.

Jayawardene called his partner through for a quick single to try and reach his century, but Cook threw down the stumps from gully and Dilshan was on his way.

Three balls later, Bopara picked up his landmark wicket, producing a beauty to take the outside edge of Prasanna Jayawardene's bat and get rid of the Sri Lanka wicket-keeper.

But Mahela Jayawardene carried on regardless and reached his century soon after tea, surpassing Aravinda da Silva's national mark of 20 Test hundreds.

If England thought they would be able to run through Sri Lanka's lower order, Vaas had other ideas and he bludgeoned some quick runs to further demoralise England's spirits.

By the time played ended, he had more than played his part in another frustrating stand led by the admirable Jayawardene, a record seventh-wicket partnership for Sri Lanka against England.