Defiant England give chase in Galle

Forget the history books that say that the highest fourth-innings score in a Test here is only 253, there is still much hope for England. Chasing 340 to win in Galle, they closed the third day on 111-2, with Jonathan Trott 40 not out and Kevin Pietersen 29 not out. Trott, after a slightly uncertain start against the spinners, in particular when he got a leading edge off Rangana Herath's head for two, looked in dent touch. He played some lovely back-foot forces through the leg side off Herath, and swept more and more confidently. Pietersen was dropped on 12, a relatively straightforward chance for Kumar Sangakkara at leg slip off Suraj Randiv, as Pietersen pushed forward and inside-edged. And he might have been caught at mid-off as he looked to hit Herath over the top. But he also whipped Herath imperiously between mid-on and mid-wicket, and had got off the mark with a classy straight-batted back-foot force through extra cover off Herath. Alastair Cook was the first to go. He was initially given not out as he tried with a closed face to work Herath to leg from outside off stump. Sri Lanka immediately called for a review, convinced they had their man, even though HotSpot technology is not being used in this series. It looked as if there might have been a deflection, but noise must also surely have been a determining factor for the third umpire. Cook made 14. Next skipper Andrew Strauss went for 27. Yet again he had established himself at the crease and squandered a good start. This time he advanced down the pitch to Herath and looked to hit him over mid wicket. He could not muster sufficient elevation and succeeded only in skimming the ball flat towards Tillakaratne Dilshan, who took a superb catch. Earlier Sri Lanka's last five wickets had scored 130 runs. It was a shock, and at least 47 more than they should have made. They should have been all out for 167 when Prasanna Jayawardene skied Stuart Broad to be caught and bowled. There was relief all round as England thought they had to chase 292 to win. But it immediately turned to despair when umpire Rod Tucker made the call for there to be a check whether it had been a no ball. It had. A big no ball. It was sloppy, and costly. Jayawardene played excellently, as befitting a man with four Test centuries behind him, including one at Cardiff against England last summer. He passed 50 by pulling Broad for six over mid wicket and ended with 61 not out. But there were other hugely important contributions. In fact all the batsmen to appear today, bar Herath, who was bowled for seven by Swann slogging horribly, worked extremely hard to ensure that England had a mountain to climb. Dinesh Chandimal made 31 before only finding Pietersen at mid-off trying to hit over the top. Nightwatchman Suraj Randiv made a valuable 18, and Chanaka Welegedera made 13 in a partnership of 40 to add to the 54 he put on in the first innings with Mahela Jayawardene. And last man Suranga Lakmal made 13 before being run out, with Pietersen making the throw to James Anderson, as Sri Lanka were all out for 214. Swann finished with his best figures overseas of 30-5-82-6, and Monty Panesar claimed two wickets for 59 from his 24 overs.