England face fight to avoid defeat

One thing is for sure: while it is debatable how much good feeling ever existed between the teams, little remains.

Sri Lanka reporting Nasser Hussain for allegedly badmouthing Muttiah Muralitharan took care of that. Today, both sides appeared to obey referee Clive Lloyd's order for impeccable behaviour, but warmth there was not.

"We've come to expect a little bit from each other," Graham Thorpe said. "Most of the time it's in the right spirit.

"I suppose the only things is that not too many of us tell tales out of school. That's the only thing that surprises me. I think you don't need to do it.

"Cricketers understand you are going to take a little bit from time to time. Maybe you can push it a bit too far but generally most people know where the lines are and you don't have to run off and tell people about it."

So far as the cricket went, Thorpe's grim-faced exit for 57 ended any lingering chance England had of overhauling their opponent's total of 382. Thorpe battled for more than four hours in all before falling victim to Murali.

With England having lost four wickets for 30 runs yesterday and three more for 28 this morning, Sri Lanka were already firmly in control. But Thorpe's dismissal, lbw to the Magic Man, not only ended a resolute partnership of 51 with Batty but also tightened the home team's grip.

The Surrey left-hander lost Paul Collingwood ( 28), Andrew Flintoff (16) and Chris Read (0) in quick succession and added 28 runs to his overnight 20 before lunch.

It wasn't that he did not look to attack. He was simply offered precious few opportunities and mainly contented himself with nudging and deflecting ones and twos.

Ironically, Thorpe's best shot was followed instantly by his dismissal. When Murali gave one delivery a bit of air, Thorpe drove him through the covers for his fifth four. The next ball, however, was quicker and flatter and straightened enough to convince umpire Aleem Dar it would have hit the target.

That left Batty and Giles to try to limit the damage, both eventually falling to the second new ball, with Giles edging Chaminda Vaas to slip and Batty mis-hooking the same bowler to deep mid-wicket.

Batty, especially, had shown bags of spirit and plenty of good technique before he was last out after an innings that both earned him 38 runs and made sure Sri Lanka's lead did not reach three figures.

The bottom line, though, was that England's decision to play an extra batsman did not do them a lot of good in their first innings. Eight runs, to be precise, based on the totals in Galle and at this ground.