Sri Lanka let off the hook on another frustrating day

What began as England's Mission Impossible in Galle, chasing a record 340 runs to win, was downgraded to a chance to rewrite history, after they finished the third day on 111 for two.

After their recent batting displays against spinners on Asian pitches, you would be forgiven for not being filled with confidence at them scoring the remaining 229 runs, but this pitch is slow, with only predictable turn, and the No?1 Test team should be able to put together a coherent batting performance at some stage.

It was not going to be easy with Suraj Randiv, in particular, getting bounce as well as turn, but they should also have taken succour that there is no bowler pitted against them as good as Saeed Ajmal, while the fast outfield gives good value for shots that beat the field.

To get big scores here, batsmen need to soak up balls in the middle, something Jonathan Trott, on 40, and Kevin Pietersen, with 29, had done well but needed to continue doing, at least until lunch on the fourth day, if their team are to have a decent chance of winning. Their tactic was something Andrew Strauss appeared to be doing, too, after England lost Alastair Cook in the ninth over of their second innings, until a rush of blood took hold and he miscued a slog over the top off Rangana Herath to Tillakaratne Dilshan at short mid-wicket.

Strauss may have felt his innings was atrophying and tried to lead by example with a more aggressive approach. If he did, he misread the situation, as Trott, refusing to sheath the sweep shot that had cost so many of his team-mates dear in the first innings, had begun briskly. With over two days left, there was no need for haste and England's captain left his crease-bound comfort zone, mistaking a period of stasis for the lack of intent that blighted their fourth-innings run chase against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi.

Cook's dismissal, which preceded his captain's, was strange, given the lack of Hotspot technology in this series. There was a spontaneous appeal from Sri Lanka, as he looked to work an arm ball from Herath to leg, but he stood his ground. Replays showed little obvious deviation off the outside edge, but Bruce Oxenford, the TV umpire, must have seen some contact, or heard something damning from the enhanced audio coming from the stump microphones, as he overturned Rod Tucker's original not-out decision. If Mahela Jayawardene made a good call there, his request for another review, this time against Trott, who was hit on the pad by Dilshan in the next over, was less wise. To overrule the umpire, any lbw has to be plumb and this was not, the ball striking Trott just outside the line of off-stump. It was close but not as clear cut as the catch Kumar Sangakkarra dropped when Pietersen bat-padded an edge to leg gully off Randiv. He was on 12 and Sri Lanka may come to rue the miss if he is still there in the afternoon session.

England's day, which frustrated them more than the check-in process at Indian airports, began with them needing to take Sri Lanka's five remaining wickets as quickly as possible, a task for which Strauss turned sensibly to his sagest bowlers, Graeme Swann and James Anderson. Both began steadily and, had Strauss been more attacking and posted a leg gully to Swann, as he had the previous day, the off-spinner would have dismissed Randiv in the opening over. Strauss would not have been the first leader of men to have stood below the ramparts of Galle Fort pondering which of his options was the most prudent. Eventually, it was Monty Panesar, replacing Anderson, who made the breakthrough after he persuaded Dinesh Chandimal into a reckless lofted drive that ended in Pietersen's hands at mid-on.

Swann then dismissed Randiv and Herath in swift succession after switching his angle to round the wicket; Randiv, after his review was rejected by the Decision Review System, which upheld the umpire's original decision, and Herath after the batsman had taken an almighty swish at a straight ball.

If having Sri Lanka 151 for eight made lunch easy to digest for England, what happened afterwards, soon after Chanaka Welegedera's dismissal to Panesar, brought mass dyspepsia. The frustration occurred when Stuart Broad caught and bowled Prasanna Jayawardene after the batsman had miscued a bouncer before throwing the ball absent-mindedly into the stumps as the Sri Lankan headed off to the pavilion.

England, especially those fantasising over putting their feet up under a ceiling fan in the dressing-room, were cock-a-hoop, only to have those ideals dashed when it was suggested Broad had bowled a front-foot no-ball, a transgression ratified when Tucker's suspicions were confirmed by the third umpire. It was big one too, by three or four inches, which makes you wonder why Tucker missed it in the first place but, if he is unsure, he can ask for any ball to be looked at to verify its legality.

Baked by the sun until their edges were crispy, some of England's players inquired, more in hope than expectation, about the run-out, which is the only dismissal allowed off a no-ball. Trouble is the batsmen were not attempting a run while Tucker did not call the no-ball until it had been confirmed, which meant the ball must have been dead anyway.

Strauss, with his usual authority and common sense, solved any confusion by waving the appeal away and Jayawardene, who made an unbeaten 61, went on his merry way adding another 47 runs with No?11, Surinder Lakmal, a record last-wicket partnership for this ground that not only extended Sri Lanka's lead but added a cruel, hot blast to England's overheating tempers.