Gough: A man possessed

When Hussain lost his eighth toss out of nine - an astonishing statistic, incidentally - they could not have dreamed of bowling Sri Lanka out in the day but, having restricted Sri Lanka to 80 for four when Trescothick dropped Arnold at slip off White, England could have expected to be even better placed.

The partnership between Jayawardene and Arnold dominated the afternoon session, during which 123 runs were scored in 31 overs - and this at a time when Sri Lanka were digging themselves out of a hole!

This is how Sri Lankans play their cricket - they always have - and while it can cause them problems at times, it is a perfect response to having been put under pressure.

Long innings

In fact, their desire to press on accounted for Sri Lanka's collapse this morning.

Atapattu did not look nearly as comfortable as he did at Galle in the first Test but, interestingly, Jayasuriya seemed determined to play a long innings.

He is a man who loves to go for his shots, but he deliberately reined himself in until, in the tenth over, he drove Caddick for four through backward point.

This seemed to set the adrenaline flowing and, attempting to do the same thing to the next ball, he carved a catch to point.

With so much attention focusing on the umpires, it is inevitable that mistakes will be highlighted.

De Silva's aggression brings about his downfall

Rudi Koertzen's decision to despatch Kumar Sangakarra was disappointing not merely because the ball appeared to have hit the batsman's arm guard rather than his glove, but the sound was all wrong, too.

Armguards are plastic, and make a loud 'crack' when they are struck. Gloves are soft and there is rarely a noise: this was a bad decision.

De Silva launched a deliberate attack on Ashley Giles, hitting him for a six and three fours in only two overs but, again, got carried away and top-edged a pull stroke off White.

This was the critical moment: two balls later Trescothick dropped Arnold and Sri Lanka escaped, through some brilliant stroke play, during the afternoon.

Well supported

Gough has been in the headlines, largely for the wrong reasons on this trip. His rucks with fielders and umpires have been well documented, but he charged in and, well supported by Caddick - who produced arguably his best spell since the Headingley test of last summer - he routed the tail as five wickets fell for twenty runs.

Atherton and Trescothick know that they have to bat as long as possible tomorrow.

It has been difficult to assess how much the ball has spun so far because, once again, Giles and Croft were ineffective, but if England can bat for two days and post a score of 500 plus, it will be Sri Lanka's turn to bat last under pressure to save the game.

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