I think we can make another 100 runs Muttiah Muralitharan

Muttiah Muralitharan admitted Sri Lanka were feeling the heat after England fought their way back into the first Test on day three in Galle.

The hosts hold a commanding 195-run lead, but the loss of 4-13 late in the day put England back in the picture.

Spinners Ashley Giles and Gareth Batty combined to peg Sri Lanka back after they had eased to 72-1.

"The pressure is on us again because I thought we would close the game out," Muralitharan said.

He added: "I'm pleased but in the end a little bit disappointed because we lost five wickets (in the second inning).

"We should have only lost two or three wickets but we still have a good lead and it was vital to get a first-innings lead.

"I think we can make another 100 runs and I might even slog a few.

"But now the pressure is back on us a little bit and there will definitely be a result in the game."

Muralitharan returned 7-46 - his 39th five-wicket haul and best figures at Galle - to help dismiss England for 235.

He was the chief architect of an England collapse that saw them tumble from 142-2 to 155-6 just before tea.

But the star off-spinner was curiously left to graze in the outfield for almost an hour after the break, allowing England to stage a tailend fightback.

"The captain was doing the right thing because we have four spinners and the captain was trying to rotate them," Murali said.

"We have so much variation - a leg-spinner, a left-arm spinner and two off-spinner as well as a part-time spinner."