De Silva and Mendis lead Sri Lanka fightback at the Oval

LONDON (AP) — Dhananjaya de Silva and Kamindu Mendis led a Sri Lanka fightback against England on day two of the third and final test at the Oval on Saturday.

Sri Lanka was 93-5 in reply to England's 325 when De Silva and Mendis combined for 118 to the end of a day shortened by bad light.

De Silva, 64 not out, and Mendis, 54 not out, repaired Sri Lanka to 211-5, trailing England by 114 runs.

Bad light meant England could utilise only spin after tea, and there was only one concrete chance to part the Sri Lankan duo and debutant Josh Hull shelled it. Shoaib Bashir drew a mis-hit from De Silva and the ball sailed straight to the newcomer, who made a mess of a regulation chance as it squirmed to the floor.

Hull looked aghast as his error was replayed on the big screen, and he would have felt every one of the 59 runs that came before play was called off for the day.

England went wicketless in the evening gloom, with 17 overs of spin split between Bashir, Dan Lawrence and Joe Root, and will relish the chance to unleash Hull and his fellow seamers under brighter skies on Sunday.

England batted carelessly in a chaotic morning session to turn their overnight position of 221-3 into an underwhelming 325 all out. England managed just 104 more runs as Milan Rathnayake, Vishwa Fernando and De Silva each picked up two wickets.

Hull has fast-tracked from division two of the County Championship after just 10 first-class appearances, and been promoted due to his imposing two-meter frame and left-arm angle, and found himself in the thick of the action on day two.

Coming in at No. 10 he was part of England’s batting collapse in the morning session, as the last six wickets were lost for just 35 runs. But Hull's real challenge came when stand-in skipper Ollie Pope, who had earlier added 51 runs to his overnight century for 154, threw him the ball for the first time.

Midway through his third over, Hull had a moment he will never forget as Sri Lanka opener Pathum Nissanka was brilliantly caught at short cover by a diving Chris Woakes.

After a solitary over from Woakes before lunch, the real work began after the interval as Sri Lanka’s openers put on 34 in a steady start. It took only one lapse to undo their work, a poor call inviting Stone to throw down the stumps and send Dimuth Karunaratne on his way for 9.

Woakes was bizarrely instructed to bowl off-spin for the next four balls, the umpires deciding that the light was too dim to bowl pace before reversing their decision at the end of the over.

Woakes, whose tweakers left a lot to be desired, was happy to get back to his long run and soon had Kusal Mendis fending to slip on 14.

Stone made further inroads, finding Angelo Mathews’ edge outside off stump then pinning Dinesh Chandimal on the back leg but the biggest cheer was reserved for Hull.

His breakthrough wicket needed a healthy assist from Woakes, who swooped to catch the lively Nissanka after a 51-ball 64, but bowled some neat deliveries in his first five overs as an international.

England has already won the series after four-day wins at Old Trafford and Lord's.

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