Sri Lanka 4 without loss and 275 (Mahela Jayawardene 105, Angelo Matthews 57, Graeme Swann 4-75) trail England 460 all out (Kieven Pietersen 151, Alastair Cook 94, Jonathan Trott 64, Rangana Herath 6-133) by 181 runs.

Kevin Pietersen demonstrated a masterly knock of 151 runs and England was at the driving seat with a first innings lead of 185 runs vs. Sri Lanka.

The first innings of Sri Lanka was folded back on 275 runs in111.1 overs and England responded with a huge score of 460 runs in 152.3 overs after they lost their entire team in the first innings.

The third day’s play of the second and final Test at P Sara Oval, Colombo came to an end on April 5, 2011 under the hot and humid weather.

Earlier, England initiated their first innings at their overnight total of 154 runs in 66 overs for the loss of just one wicket, Alatair Cook and Jonathan Trott were in the centre with 77 and 15 runs respectively. The first over of the day was bowled by Rangana Herath which ended as a maiden since Cook was unable to score any runs. The flow of runs was started by the batsmen in the later overs and especially Trott managed boundaries in between the overs as a couple of reviews against both batsmen were turned down by the third umpire.

Cook opened up in the 83^rd over and despatched two fours to Suranga Lakmal as 200 runs for the visitors appeared on board. Trott geared up in the next over of Dhammika Prasad, sent the ball rolling out of the fence twice and reached his fifty. Alastair Cook was unlucky to miss his 20^th Test ton by just six runs when he was caught by Mahela Jayawardene off Tillakaratne Dilshan for 96 runs.

The second wicket fell at 213 runs as Kevin Pietersen came to the crease and opened his account with a single and the total was enhanced to 239 for the loss of two wickets at lunch interval. Jonathan Trott lost his wicket on the fifth ball of the 98^th over when caught again by Mahela Jayawardene off Herath for 64 runs as Ian Bell came in the centre. Petersen became furious in the next over and dispatched 15 runs to Suraj Randiv which comprised two fours and a six. He became the major scorer as Bell kept on securing his wicket while adding occasional runs.

The onslaught from Kevin Pietersen continued as he thrashed his ton in the 115^th over by grabbing 18 runs with a couple of fours and one six. The fourth wicket partnership contributed 94 runs and took the score to 347 runs when Bell was gone for 18 off 53 balls with just one four. Pietersen continued accelerating the score and became the sixth batsman who went back to the pavilion for a polished knock of 151 runs off mere 165 deliveries with 6 sixes and 16 fours. A little resistance was shown by the incoming batsmen, the whole team was bowled out for 460 runs in 152.3 overs at a scoring rate of 3.01 runs and a valuable first innings lead of 185 runs was acquired by the visitors.

Rangana Herath was the star performer with the ball by grabbing six wickets, Dilshan held two as Prasad and Randiv claimed one wicket each.

Sri Lanka managed four runs in the only over before close of the third day’s play without losing any wicket and the first innings deficit was reduced to 181 runs. The Lankan Lions have to play absorbing cricket to save the match which has already tilted towards England.