England were missing the injured Mark Wood as Kamindu Mendis’ century led Sri Lanka’s fightback to keep on day four at Emirates Old Trafford.
Wood left the field mid-over on Friday evening and was subsequently ruled out with a thigh problem, robbing the hosts of their fastest bowler as they attempted to wrap up Sri Lanka’s innings and push for victory in Manchester.
Without his pace and penetration they failed to take a wicket in the morning session as the composed Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal put on 87 chanceless runs.
The tourists reached 291 for six at lunch, an increasingly handy lead of 169, with the composed Kamindu bringing up his third Test ton in six innings shortly after a rain delay. Gus Atkinson may have been feeling particularly sheepish, having dropped the centurion on 39 earlier in the innings.
England arrived with high hopes of bundling their opponents out early after breaking Angelo Mathews’ resistance late on day three but instead found themselves put on the back foot with eight boundaries in the first hour.
Chris Woakes produced a beauty to beat the bat with the first ball of the day but that was a rarity as Kamindu progressed serenely to 90 not out and Chandimal reached an unbeaten 57.
Chandimal would have been happier than most about Wood’s absence, having retired hurt on Friday following a 90mph blow to the hand. It took X-rays to confirm he had escaped a fracture and he showed plenty of heart to play his part in Sri Lanka’s resistance.
England were a little flat as they searched for the breakthrough, Gus Atkinson at one stage shipping 25 off two overs and Shoaib Bashir struggling to make an impact with his off-spin.
Bashir had nought for 77 off his 20 overs when the weather turned. Mendis was stranded on 90 when the covers came on but the skies cleared to allow four more overs before the interval.
That was enough for him to get over the line, cutting Woakes for a boundary shortly after the introduction of the new ball.