By Jonathan Agnew BBC cricket correspondent in Colombo

Sri Lanka had the better of the opening day of the third Test but, once again, a startling lack of initiative allowed England to wriggle off the hook.

Sri Lanka's tactics seemed to invite Flintoff back into form

Mid-afternoon, England were floundering on 139-5 and might have failed to reach 200.

But home skipper Hashan Tillakaratne set the field deep for Andrew Flintoff and showed a lack of attacking intent.

This curious ploy, in no small measure, enabled Flintoff to get the start he needed to play easily his most productive innings of the series.

I am struggling to comprehend Sri Lanka's attitude, only to say this team is as far removed from their positive and entertaining countrymen of the 1980s and 90s, as it is possible to be.

John Dyson, the coach, repeatedly accuses England of slow, negative play, and if he persists, he will succeed only in making himself a complete laughing stock.

One possible explanation for the reluctance to attack is the fact Sri Lanka have two separate captains, Tillakaratne leading the Test side and Marvan Atapattu the one-day team.

You need only to ask Nasser Hussain about how difficult that can be.

I wonder if Sri Lanka will be capable of knocking off even a small fourth-innings target to win the series

Opening batsmen tend to play a few shots against the new ball, and that was Trescothick's approach this morning.

He raced to a half century off only 40 balls and although Vaughan perished on 18, England were in complete control until Trescothick fell to the last ball before lunch for 70.

This seemed to give Sri Lanka newfound spirit and, within 12 overs, they had also claimed the wickets of Mark Butcher, Hussain and Graham Thorpe.

England were now in deep trouble, but Flintoff mixed caution with some customary blows as he and Batty added 87 for the sixth wicket.

The partnership was broken when Batty dragged a long hop to midwicket for 14 and, 10 runs later, Flintoff was caught and bowled by the persistent Muralitharan for 77.

Again, Sri Lanka had an opportunity, but Tillakaratne delayed taking the second new ball, and when he finally yielded to what seemed to be pressure from his team-mates, Giles was immediately run out in a mix-up with Read.

The pitch is taking spin and Murali has the extraordinary figures of 3-38 from 37 overs.