LONDON: Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva and the in-form Kamindu Mendis frustrated England with a unbroken century partnership on the second day of the third Test at the Oval on Saturday.
The tourists collapsed to 93-5 before tea, but had recovered to 211-5 when bad light forced an early close.
That left Sri Lanka 114 runs adrift of an England first-innings total of 325 built on Ollie Pope's 154 -- his first century as England captain.
De Silva was 64 not out and left-handed batsman Kamindu Mendis, again down the order at number seven, 54 not out in an undefeated stand of 118 as Sri Lanka looked to salvage some pride at 2-0 behind in a three-match series.
It was a fine end to the day for Sri Lanka, who took seven wickets before lunch on Saturday to end England's innings.
For Mendis, currently boasting a staggeringly high Test batting average of over 85, this was the seventh time in six matches at this level the 25-year-old had passed 50 -- a run that also includes three centuries.
De Silva, however, should have been out for 23 but Test debutant Josh Hull dropped a simple catch at mid-on, the ball bursting through the towering fast bowler's giant hands following a miscued drive off spinner Shoaib Bashir.
England, 211-3 overnight, could have batted Sri Lanka out of the game.
But an improved Sri Lanka bowling display, allied to several England batsmen giving their wickets away, helped the tourists fight back.
"I think after what happened yesterday (Friday), we pulled ourselves back into the game," Sri Lanka coach Sanath Jayasuriya told reporters after stumps.
"Getting seven wickets for about 100 runs was very good. The quicks and (off-spinner) De Silva bowled well.
Jayasuriya, who scored a superb double century in Sri Lanka's 1998 Test triumph at the Oval, also praised De Silva and Kamindu Mendis's batting by saying: "These guys have shown character. They know that they are the last two recognised batters"
Sri Lanka scored 69 runs without loss in 17 overs of all spin bowling after tea on Saturday, with England deciding against deploying their pacemen in case the umpires halted play for bad light even earlier than they eventually did.
England quick Olly Stone defended Pope's tactics by telling Sky Sports: "It was too dark for our seamers but we tried to take the positive option.
"We thought we could take wickets with our spinners," added Stone, who had 2-28 in five overs at stumps. "But Sri Lanka played well."
Sri Lanka's innings suffered an early setback when Dimuth Karunaratne (nine) was run out by Stone's direct hit from short cover after Pathum Nissanka set off for a rash single.
Nissanka completed a fine fifty when he punched the 20-year-old Hull for four through mid-off. But the 6ft 7 inch (2 metres) tall Hull took his first Test wicket by removing Nissanka for 64 when the opener's drive was well caught by a diving Chris Woakes at cover.
And 91-4 became 93-5 when Stone had Dinesh Chandimal lbw for a duck.
De Silva celebrated his reprieve by late-cutting Lawrence for four to complete an 81-ball fifty, while the stylish Kamindu Mendis reached the landmark in a mere 60 balls.
Joe Root was also given a couple of overs with his occasional off-breaks before, amid worsening natural light, play ended for the day.
Earlier, England lost their last six wickets for 35 runs after resuming on 221-3.
Pope was then 103 not out after managing a mere 30 runs in four innings since succeeding the injured Ben Stokes as skipper at the start of this series.
Sri Lanka's wayward four-man pace attack had failed to make the most of overcast conditions and a green-tinged pitch after De Silva won the toss.
Their performance improved markedly on Saturday, although Pope contributed to his own downfall by hooking left-arm quick Vishwa Fernando to deep square leg to end a 156-ball innings including 19 fours and two sixes.
England, who whitewashed the West Indies 3-0 earlier this season, are chasing their first home Test clean sweep since 2004, when Michael Vaughan oversaw seven successive wins. -- AFP