England self-sabotage in rush for runs as Sri Lanka cling on in third Test

One of the tenets of so-called Bazball is to entertain the crowd and on the second day of this summer’s final Test match – a day that transported the spectators back to the village green at times, such was the standard on show – Ollie Pope tried his best to adhere.

But at 5.35pm, Pope having deployed spin from both ends for 17 straight overs after tea in a bid to keep the game moving, the umpires Joel Wilson and Chris Gaffaney decided enough was enough. Bad light had once again brought an early close at the Oval, Sri Lanka reaching 211 for five in response to England’s slightly wasteful 325 all out.

Kudos to Pope and not just for the 154 that ensured his side’s first innings total was competitive. At any stage during this final hour or so he could have brought on one of the quicks and instantly shut things down. Instead, as Shoaib Bashir, Dan Lawrence and Joe Root twirled away in the gloom, Dhananjaya de Silva and Kamindu Mendis stitched together an unbroken stand of 118 that hauled Sri Lanka back into the reckoning.

Both men were more than happy to milk their runs here, De Silva reaching stumps with 64 to his name and the in-form Kamindu unbeaten on 54. Although it was also a partnership that should have been broken on 59 when De Silva, on 23, plopped a mis-hit straight into the hands of Josh Hull at mid-on, only for the debutant to spill the ball on to the grass.

Even factoring in the glare of the floodlights and the nerves of a debutant in front of a full house, it was a pretty easy chance. Like the ball itself, it also brought Hull back down to earth with a bump, the 20-year-old’s head having previously been filled with thoughts of his maiden Test wicket as England reduced Sri Lanka to a troubling 93 for five.

At least Hull had that golden moment when, 15 balls into his solitary spell, he persuaded Pathum Nissanka to skew a drive to extra cover on 64 and Chris Woakes took a sparkling tumbling catch. Across five overs the left-armer showed glimpses of the attributes that have prompted his rapid elevation, propelling the ball from that 6ft 7in frame in the mid-80s mph and getting it swinging into the right-handers. There are rough edges to smooth out, a slingy action still to hone, but Hull does seem to possess something different.

The drop was also pretty much in keeping with the overall tone of a day that began with England losing their last six wickets for just 35 runs and then witnessed a single over of Sri Lanka’s reply before the 40-minute lunch break, meaning 10 minutes lost in the process. At one stage Woakes was also forced to send down four balls of (shoddy) off-spin when the light was briefly deemed bad. Elite sport this very much was not, even if Woakes was allowed to resume his fast-medium and nicked off Kusal Mendis.

One man who rose above it all was Olly Stone, who for the second Test running showed the extra thrust he can offer with two precious breakthroughs and delivered a sparkling direct hit from cover to run out Dimuth Karunaratne and halt what had been a quickfire start to Sri Lanka’s reply. Coming the day after Mark Wood’s year was confirmed to have been ended by the return of an elbow stress fracture, this was all timely too.

Stone is not Wood in terms of pace but he is spiteful enough and here, probing away in the channel, he was causing indecision. Angelo Mathews, the old head in this Sri Lanka side, ended up in an awkward position and sent a thick edge to gully on 14, while Dinesh Chandimal, struggling in this Test with a hand injury first inflicted by Wood at Old Trafford, was pinned lbw for duck by a ball that nipped back in.

At this stage, Hull having shut down a rapid-fire 64 from the talented Nissanka that underlined what is a decent pitch and certainly a fast-scoring outfield, Sri Lanka were once again in tatters and it felt like the slapdash end to England’s innings might not be hugely consequential. Even so it was noteworthy, the hosts having resumed 221 for three in the morning and then self-immolated in a quest for quick runs.

The lower order were clearly given instructions to have a thrash here and Sri Lanka, re-energised after a tricky first day, were getting the old ball to swing. But among the array of swipes that accelerated the overall demise was a curious innings from Harry Brook. The Yorkshireman often arrives at the crease already looking set but here was jumpy from the outset, surviving one howling drop in the deep by Asitha Fernando on 12 before crashing a wide ball to short cover and seeing Kamidu pull off a sparkler.

Pope’s departure, pulling straight to deep square leg, was another self-inflicted dismissal but given the way he had batted up to that point – and the efforts made to keep the game on during its latest bad light farce – it was hard to be too critical of his efforts.