With 22 overs left in the day, the players then left the field – with Pope seemingly keen to avoid further wear on the new ball – and did not return for the rest of the day. It was a notable contrast to his decision to stay on the field in similar bad light in the first Test at Emirates Old Trafford, where Root and Bashir bowled 12 consecutive overs of spin as Sri Lanka’s No.9 Milan Rathnayake made 72 in his debut innings.
“I think it’s a questionable decision,” Morgan, who spent seven years as England’s white-ball captain, said on Sky Sports’ coverage. “The reason behind that is just the whole context of the last hour or so: it is dark. There’s a reason the seamers can’t bowl: it is dangerous for everybody concerned.
“If you’re sitting in Sri Lanka’s changing room, you’re thinking, ‘Jeez the last place I want to be is out there with the bat in hand – facing anybody.’ It’s a lose-lose situation. I totally understand the concern for the condition of the ball, but you’re talking about England’s premium fingerspinner in Shoaib Bashir, who needs to bowl. The ball is turning and bouncing.”
Sri Lanka had promoted Prabath Jayasuriya, who batted at No. 9 in the first innings, to No. 4 in a bid to reach the close of play unscathed. “They’re bowling at a No. 9 at one end. Everything is in England’s favour,” Morgan said. “I question the decision… you have runs to play with, you have two or three new balls, everything in your favour. And yet you’re sitting in the changing room.”
“The more we can spend time in the middle and that ball gets a bit softer…” Bell said. “This wicket has been quite a new-ball wicket, if you can get through that. There’s still plenty of batting, and that’s probably been the strength so far this tour: that middle-lower order have got some good runs. Tomorrow, the first hour is important and we’ll go from there.”
Bell said he was pleased with the “character” that Sri Lanka showed on the third day: “What we asked the guys last night was to come in with the attitude that we saw in Manchester… A bit unfortunate to lose a second wicket in that little period of an over or two in between the bad light, but more of the same tomorrow.
“It’s more the character we want to see, that we’ve seen so far in this tour. Obviously, you want to win games, but also want to see the guys fight for everything they’ve got in these conditions, which are a bit more tricky than what they play in in Sri Lanka.”