SL on top despite unusual penalty

Sri Lanka were hit with five penalty runs on the second day of the second Test against England after match officials ruled the hosts' batsmen breached the law governing deliberate short runs.

During the evening session, Roshen Silva failed to ground his bat while running two with tailender Akila Dananjaya, after his shot skipped towards the third-man boundary only to be intercepted before hitting the rope.

Though it looked a minor gaffe on Silva’s part, umpire Marais Erasmus seemingly judged it a deliberate attempt to retain the strike, called one short and boosted England's first innings from 285 to 290 using law 18.5 of the Laws of Cricket.

"I don't think Roshen did it deliberately,” batsman Dimuth Karunaratne said after play.

“He thought the ball had gone for four and he came back to his partner to give a high five.

"Those things can happen, it's part of the game and we don't blame him. We are not so worried about the five runs. The team manager spoke to the umpires and they thought Roshen did it deliberately."

Law 18.5.1 states, in part: “If either umpire considers that one or both batsmen deliberately ran short at that umpire’s end, the umpire concerned shall, when the ball is dead, call and signal Short run and inform the other umpire of what has occurred.

Law 18.5.2 states that a five-run penalty is one of the options available to the umpires in such an instance.

England found themselves on the back foot after day two of the match, 46 runs behind and facing the prospect of a nerve-racking second innings.

The tourists arrived at Pallekele Stadium confident their total would be enough to control proceedings on a turning pitch, only for Sri Lanka to respond with a gutsy total of 336.

Silva's composed 85 - the top score of the match to date - was smartly compiled with the tail for company, and there were half-centuries from Dimuth Karunaratne (63) and Dhananjaya de Silva (59).

Nightwatchman Jack Leach was sent in to protect Keaton Jennings for a solitary over before stumps and safely averted further tension.

England's spinners took wickets on a friendly surface, Leach and Adil Rashid finishing with three apiece, with two for an off-key Moeen Ali and one for part-timer Joe Root.

When Angelo Mathews departed at 6-165, Sri Lanka were still prone, but Roshen's clear-mindedness and some lacklustre bowling allowed them to more than double their tally.

Ben Stokes' fielding had taken centre stage in the morning session, producing a brilliant run out and an outstanding catch to kickstart the English effort.