Sri Lanka's Dhananjaya De Silva And Kamindu Mendis Defy England In Third Test

Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva and the in-form Kamindu Mendis frustrated England with a unbroken century partnership on the second day of the third Test at the Oval on Saturday. The tourists collapsed to 93-5 before tea, but had recovered to 211-5 when bad light forced an early close. That left Sri Lanka 114 runs adrift of an England first-innings total of 325 built on Ollie Pope's 154 -- his first century as England captain. De Silva was 64 not out and left-handed batsman Kamindu Mendis, again down the order at number seven, 54 not out in an undefeated stand of 118 as Sri Lanka looked to salvage some pride at 2-0 behind in a three-match series.

It was a fine end to the day for Sri Lanka, who took seven wickets before lunch on Saturday to end England's innings.

For Mendis, currently boasting a staggeringly high Test batting average of over 85, this was the seventh time in six matches at this level the 25-year-old had passed 50 -- a run that also includes three centuries.

De Silva, however, should have been out for 23 but Test debutant Josh Hull dropped a simple catch at mid-on, the ball bursting through the towering fast bowler's giant hands following a miscued drive off spinner Shoaib Bashir.

England, 211-3 overnight, could have batted Sri Lanka out of the game.

But an improved Sri Lanka bowling display, allied to several England batsmen giving their wickets away, helped the tourists fight back.

'Character'

"I think after what happened yesterday (Friday), we pulled ourselves back into the game," Sri Lanka coach Sanath Jayasuriya told reporters after stumps.

"Getting seven wickets for about 100 runs was very good. The quicks and (off-spinner) De Silva bowled well.

Jayasuriya, who scored a superb double century