Graham Thorpe believes England are still in with a chance in the second Test after Sri Lanka accepted bad light at the end of the third day. The home side went off an hour early despite holding a 127-run lead at 39-1 in their second innings.
"They know we'll battle hard and maybe they thought if they lost a couple of wickets the game might be back in the balance," Thorpe told BBC Sport.
"If we take two or three wickets in the morning, we're right back in it."
Thorpe believes Sri Lanka's decision to go off betrays a lack of confidence, despite the presence in their team of the brilliant spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan.
He said: "No disrespect to our spinners but they're not Muralitharan and that makes it all the more bizarre."
Sri Lanka coach John Dyson defended the decision, as playing regulations require the 10 lost overs to be made up in the remaining days.
"We decided we'd be better off batting in good light in the morning than dull light now," he explained.
 |  I was pleased I was able to occupy the crease for a long time and battle it out |
Thorpe stood firm with a four-hour half century while his colleagues struggled as England reached 294 all out. He appeared the most confident against Muttiah Muralitharan, although he was eventually out to the star Sri Lanka spinner's new delivery - a leg-break.
"He's a tricky customer and this other delivery he's developed makes it difficult for both left and right-handers," Thorpe said of Muralitharan.
"It certainly makes it a lot harder when you're unsure which way every delivery is going."
"More than anything I was pleased I was able to occupy the crease for a long time and battle it out."
"To get up to 300 from the position we were in was a good effort."
The veteran left-hander believes England experience in the first Test, where they salvaged a draw despite trailing by 96 on first innings, will stand them in good stead. "We're going to have to work really hard and either bowl them out or limit the amount of time we have to bat," he added.
"We're 120 runs behind them but still very much in the game.
"Our plan is to make it difficult for them to get ahead of us quickly."
Dyson countered: "We were very pleased to bowl England out for the total we did."
He praised Muralitharan saying: "The ball he trapped Graham Thorpe with will go down as one of the best balls bowled in Test cricket."
And there were also plaudits for Chaminda Vaas, who took 4-77.
"This is not an easy wicket for a fast bowler because you get great value for shots," he said.
"Vaas stuck to his line and length, he bowled his variations very well indeed and he deserved his return."
MMIX
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