England’s push for victory was delayed by bad light on the third evening. As Sri Lanka began Sunday on 53-2, an improbable 430 runs adrift, the question was not if England would win, but when.
The hosts were initially held up by opener Karunaratne and nightwatchman Prabath Jayasuriya. England failed with two reviews against Karunaratne, while Root dropped the same batter at first slip off Atkinson.
With little assistance for the bowlers, Pope shuffled his attack, adjusted his field to sometimes employ as many as eight catchers, and asked Stone to bowl spells of bouncers.
Chris Woakes drew Jayasuriya into an edge to second slip, only for Chandimal to arrive and add 55 with Karunaratne, then another 59 with Angelo Mathews.
Though Stone’s hostility was rewarded with Karunaratne’s tickle down the leg side, Chandimal was aggressive, especially against off-spinner Shoaib Bashir. Chandimal’s 42-ball half-century was his quickest in Tests.
But after Mathews patted Bashir to mid-off, Atkinson got the big wicket of Chandimal, caught at short leg. When the in-form Kamindu Mendis flashed the same bowler to second slip, the game seemed up.
Sri Lanka dug in once more. Dhananjaya found support from Milan Rathnayake, the number nine bravely coming through a blow to the helmet off Stone to add 73 for the eighth wicket.
England took the second new ball, Root put down a straightforward Rathnayake edge off Atkinson, so the bowler instead hit the stumps off Dhananjaya’s toe end.
Atkinson took the bottom edge of the swiping Rathnayake to join Botham and Tony Grieg as the only England men to do the hundred-five-wicket double in the same Test, then Woakes had Lahiru Kumara sky to mid-on to finish it.