Live Test Match Blogging / Richard O’Hagan / 07 June 2011 /

England's attempt to win the Second Test was derailed by their own caution, as they batted for too long and left themselves insufficient time to bowl out a Sri Lanka side depleted by an injury to their first innings hero Tillakaratne Dilshan

In the end, England left themselves too much to do today. After a flying start, Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen allowed themselves to become becalmed in the second hour and despite yet another hundred for the former and a welcome half-century for the latter England ended the morning session a good fifteen runs short of where they wanted to be.

The result of this was a manic fifty minutes or so after lunch which saw wickets tumble, Matt Prior smash a dressing room window and England declare on 335-7. Amidst all of which stood Ian Bell, who blasted fifty off only forty balls as England set too big a declaration target.

Sri Lanka never had any interest in chasing the 343 that they needed to win. With captain Tillakaratne Dilshan nursing a hairline fracture of the thumb they were always looking to bat out time. Stand-in opener Kumar Sangakkara raised England's hopes by playing a rash shot to a bad ball and being caught at point, but they were never really under any pressure and Andrew Strauss was forced to take desperate measures, bringing Jonathan Trott into the attack.

The ruse worked as Trott picked up a wicket with his ninth ball, Tharanga Paranavitana joining a very exclusive club of Test batsmen dismissed by his dibbly-dobbly medium pacers.

It wasn't enough, though. Sri Lanka closed on 127-3 as the players shook hands with fifteen overs still remaining.

The series now moves on to The Rose Bowl in Southampton, which makes its debut as a Test venue. The series odds now have England at 1.7 to win 2-0, whilst the draw - which would mean a Sri Lanka win in Southampton - is 5.1. Without Dilshan, it is hard to see the visitors winning.

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