England on the brink of tense, series-clinching victory

Set 301 to win after a fabulous England effort with the bat – Ben Foakes extended his overnight score by 14 runs to 65* – in the third innings, Sri Lanka were in hot water early on after Jack Leach single-handedly reduced them to 27/3. The left-arm spinner got turn and bounce with the new ball, and the Sri Lankans couldn't quite deal with them.

Kaushal Silva was intent on hitting out and paid the price when he charged down, only to find the ball turning wildly – Foakes completed an excellent stumping. Next to fall was Dhananjaya de Silva, unable to hit the sweep cleanly enough, and allowing Keaton Jennings to take a sharp catch at short-leg.

Like de Silva, Kusal Mendis also fell to an attempted sweep shot. He missed the line completely and was trapped in front for one. The on-field umpire ruled in the batsman's favour, but England wisely reviewed and reaped the reward.

England might have entertained thoughts of an easy victory at that stage, but Sri Lanka then batted with great application to mount an excellent rearguard. Dimuth Karunaratne had his uncertain moments but rallied on and found a willing companion in Angelo Mathews. The two revelled in each other's assured company, and took the score past 100.

It took a piece of brilliant fielding from Jennings at short-leg to break the partnership. Karunaratne (57) firmly struck a sweep off Adil Rashid, but Jennings anticipated the path and stuck his hand out. Although he never had enough time to grab the catch, he managed to lob it up helping keeper Foakes complete an excellent catch.

Roshen Silva, the hero from Sri Lanka's first innings, then joined Mathews and immediately looked quite assured to alleviate fears of an abrupt collapse. Mathews got his fifty shortly thereafter, and the two continued to bat solidly, for the most part.

Silva survived two loud lbw shouts. The first appeal came when Rashid pitched one outside leg, and England reviewed, and the second one, a more accurate appeal off Moeen Ali, went without a review, even though it was later shown to be crashing into leg stump.

Silva tickled one down leg off Ali to fall for 37, but not before putting Sri Lanka within 125 runs of a possible victory. With the match in the balance, Niroshan Dickwella decided to play his natural game. He took on the bowlers, and did it with some success too, striking at least one boundary per over at one point.

The spinners didn't help their own cause, offering too many overpitched deliveries for the batsmen to easily sweep. They simply seemed unable to string together a substantial number of probing balls. At tea, the score read 219/5, Sri Lanka requiring 82 runs for victory.

But the break re-energised the England spinners and Moeen Ali produced the big breakthrough with the crucial scalp of Mathews in the very first over after tea. Mathews, on 88, seemed to suffer a lapse in concentration, playing the wrong line to be trapped in front. He reviewed more out of desperation, but there was no luck to be had.

Dilruwan Perera was dismissed off Leach, missing a drive off a full delivery to be trapped plumb in front – he didn't even review. Sri Lanka had slumped to 226/7. The players were then taken off when rain intervened, with England just three scalps away from a series-clinching victory. The rain continued for long enough, and the umpires called it a day.

England will be optimistic of their chances, but if Dickwella can find a stubborn partner at the other end, it could become an interesting contest.