Angelo Mathews scored a superb century to put Sri Lanka into a winning position then Dhammika Prasad ripped through the top order to put England on the brink of defeat
6.43pm BST
Right, that's it from me. Thanks for your company. Join me again tomorrow for what will surely be a slice of Sri Lankan cricket history (and another entry in England's Big Book Of Shame). Stick around on site for all the reports and reaction. Cheerio!
6.39pm BST
A quick reminder: on Saturday evening England were 311 for three, 54 ahead on first innings with seven wickets remaining. Since then they've lost 12 wickets for 111 runs, while Sri Lanka have lost 10 wickets while scoring 457.
Alastair Cook has had some bad days over the past eight months, but this one is right up there with the very worst.
6.35pm BST
England 57-5. And that's the close. In the space of two days England have gone from a position of utter dominance to a position of utter devastation. Sri Lanka are going to win this, and with plenty to spare. It'll still be worth attending Headingley tomorrow because those there will witness a slice of history Sri Lanka's first ever series win in England.
6.33pm BST
Herath v Plunkett, round two. And Herath land the knockout blow. Or rather, Plunkett punches himself in the face.
6.30pm BST
26th over: England 57-4 (Root 6, Plunkett 0) The reprieved Root drives down the ground for four. Prasad is charging back to his mark almost as quickly as he is charging in. Root fiddles with his gloves, fiddles again, fiddles a bit more.
6.26pm BST
Has Bowden got plans for tomorrow? He seems keen to get this done tonight that's another poor decision.
6.25pm BST
Short, down legside. Sri Lanka appeal for the strangle. Bowden's finger goes up! And Root reviews immediately
6.23pm BST
25th over: England 53-4 (Root 2, Plunkett 0) Herath v Plunkett. No score draw.
6.21pm BST
24th over: England 52-4 (Root 1, Plunkett 0) This is carnage. Plunkett edges Prasad for sure this time into the slips and for once Jayawardene shells the catch. A fiver tomorrow? They should let people in for free it won't last til lunch at this rate.
"Hope you're enjoying this smashing cricket," writes Ranil Dissanayake. "This innings is Prasad all over: he's capable of bowling completely unplayable stuff, but also rank filth. I remember his debut he was the first guy we'd unearthed since Malinga who could touch 90 and reverse it, plus he's a reformed No3 bat (though you'd never have guessed it in this Test), but he's just never quite managed to get rid of the four ball habit. I hope working with Chaminda Vaas, which has so notably improved all of our other seamers, has the same effect on him."
6.18pm BST
The noise as ball passed bat was that of the bat hitting the pitch. Billy Bowden hasn't had the best of days.
6.17pm BST
Another golden duck? The finger goes up but the nightwatchman has reviewed immediately
6.15pm BST
Ah. Prasad has his best ever figures in Tests and, more importantly, Ian Bell is back in the pavilion. It's another cracking ball, seaming in and clean-bowling the Sledgehammer of Eternal Justice through the gate. He's picked up four wickets, two with jaffas, two with help from the batsmen. That was very much in the former camp.
6.13pm BST
23rd over: England 52-3 (Root 1, Bell 8) One of Herath's many estimable characteristics is that he only appeals when he genuinely thinks he's got a wicket. There are a few yelps around the bat as Root is struck on the pad, but the bowler simply wanders back to his mark. A maiden.
6.11pm BST
22nd over: England 52-3 (Root 1, Bell 8) Prasad is bowling at a decent lick here and finding a certain amount of movement. HIs best bowling figures in a Test are three for 82, which he took against India in Colombo on his debut in 2008. His figures today read 4-0-11-3.
"Seems like Cook and England want to take the heat off of not only Hodgson, Rooney and Gerrard but also Brazil, Portugal, Spain, Blatter, Cameron and Clegg too," notes Simon McMahon.
That catch takes Mahela Jaywardene past Ricky Ponting and into 3rd all-time in Tests, with 197. Only a baker's dozen behind Dravid
6.05pm BST
21st over: England 50-3 (Root 0, Bell 8) England were supposed to collapse to Herath, not Prasad. He's threatening though Bell only just jams his bat down on one that goes straight on, then is beaten all ends up outside off. That misses outside edge and off stump by a whisker. If Herath continues to bowl like this then England have approximately zero chance of reaching this total. A maiden.
6.03pm BST
20th over: England 50-3 (Root 0, Bell 8) Bell inside-edges onto the pads to bring up the England 50. Just 300 to go then.
6.02pm BST
Even leaves outside off are drawing oohs and aahs from the slip cordon now. But they've got a real reason to raise their voices now. Robson chases after a wide one a really poor shot in the circumstances and edges to Jayawardene in the slips.
5.57pm BST
19th over: England 47-2 (Robson 24, Bell 5) Herath drops short, Bell cuts hard, but picks out the man at deepish point. Otherwise it's a serene over.
5.55pm BST
18th over: England 46-2 (Robson 24, Bell 4) Overthrows! The adrenaline is pumping through Sri Lankan veins and even the captain is not immune. He shies at the stumps rather unnecessarily and hands Robson two free runs.
If you're an optimistic/masochistic England fan in the Leeds area tomorrow, it's only a fiver to get in. It could be an incredible final day.*
Tickets for tomorrow will be available on the gates, free for juniors accompanied by a paying adult. (Adults £5). pic.twitter.com/RaI4xsfBzC
5.50pm BST
17th over: England 42-2 (Robson 21, Bell 3) Herath has got the ball on a strong here. He probes Bell's defences, then fires in a quicker one and finds the edge. Jayawardene drops to his right at slip but can't claim the catch. And he doesn't pick the last, another quicker ball, but this time the one that goes straight on.
5.47pm BST
16th over: England 40-2 (Robson 21, Bell 1) Bell survives the hat-trick ball, flicking off his hip for one. It was such a sound start from the opening pair, but in the space of two deliveries Sri Lanka are swarming all over England again.
5.44pm BST
First ball! Oh my word, what a delivery! Full, swinging, ripping out middle and off. If Cook fell to a chicken-nuggets-and-chips ball, that was a prime piece of T-bone deliciousness from Prasad. He's on a hat-trick
5.41pm BST
Bleurgh. Short and wide from Prasad. Cook pulls into his stumps. What a way to go. That was ugly for the England captain. Bails everywhere.
5.37pm BST
15th over: England 38-0 (Robson 20, Cook 16) Herath just overpitches a touch to Cook, allowing the England captain to get his foot right to the pitch and negating the spin. A maiden.
5.33pm BST
14th over: England 38-0 (Robson 20, Cook 16) Mathews comes in again, bowling at a pace that would have a certain Yorkshireman griping about sticks of rhubarb. Just a single from the over.
5.29pm BST
13th over: England 37-0 (Robson 20, Cook 15) Cook flicks Herath away for one, and Robson strides out to drill the spinner through the covers for four more. The bowler responds with one that keeps balcony-botheringly low, and the last is inside-edged onto the pad.
5.26pm BST
12th over: England 32-0 (Robson 16, Cook 14) There's already a hint of two games being played out in the middle one when the seamers are bowling, one when Herath is skipping in. Robson and Cook are untroubled by Mathews here.
England now marginal favourites, according to the bookmakers. Between them, SL's 4 seamers have a career total of 9 4th-inns wickets.
5.22pm BST
11th over: England 31-0 (Robson 16, Cook 13) Cook seems determined not to get bogged down. He sweeps Herath hard for one. And for the second time in two over Robson is utterly defeated by the spinner, this time by one that grips and rips past the outside edge.
5.20pm BST
10th over: England 30-0 (Robson 16, Cook 12) Angelo Mathews, having not done all that much today, brings himself into the attack. Robson clips a couple to leg, then pushes through the covers for a couple more.
"Those stats saying we've never chased 350 don't tell the full story though," writes's optimism's Benjamin Howarth. "There are plenty of occasions when sides have comfortably chased totals just a bit lower (England v New Zealand at Lords in 2004 a good example), with plenty of wickets in hand. On those occasions, 350 would have been chased easily, if needed. I think we will win by six wickets, Cook will get 146*."
5.15pm BST
9th over: England 25-0 (Robson 12, Cook 11) Here he comes then Herath Mudiyanselage Rangana Keerthi Bandara Herath. Cook has to jab down on the first, which keeps a touch low, then pushes through midwicket for one. Robson doesn't pick the arm ball, shoulders arms, and watches in horror as the thing homes in on off stump it flies an inch or two over off stump.
5.11pm BST
8th over: England 22-0 (Robson 10, Cook 10) Erange hurtles his way to the crease. Robson leans forward and drills him effortlessly through the covers for four. It's been a decent start but 350-plus to win in the fourth innings doesn't happen often.
5.07pm BST
7th over: England 18-0 (Robson 6, Cook 10) Evening all. So England 311-3 on Saturday evening, 54 ahead on first innings with seven wickets remaining. And on Monday evening chasing 350 to win the game
5.03pm BST
6th over: England 12-0 (Robson 5, Cook 5)
A maiden from Eranga, and with England having already accumulated 3.43% of their target without either batsman being remotely threatened except for a couple of occasions, when they were I'm going to hand back to John Ashdown. Bye!
4.59pm BST
5th over: England 12-0 (Robson 5, Cook 5)
A snorter! Pradeep bowls, the ball rears up off the pitch, leaving a puff of dust, and Robson gets nowhere near it, which is just as well. A few moments Cook flicks the ball off his hip and runs a couple.
4.55pm BST
4th over: England 8-0 (Robson 4, Cook 2)
The batsmen bag a single apiece. "Interestingly, Sporting Index still has the England win as marginal favourite," reports Simon Hunter. "Do they know something the stats don't?" Well, it's good to know someone's feeling optimistic.
4.50pm BST
3rd over: England 6-0 (Robson 3, Cook 1)
Another gorgeous delivery from Pradeep swooshes past Cook's bat, and the pitch is looking a bit less benign at the moment (although these bowlers aren't completely knackered, which helps). There's a no ball, and no other scoring.
4.46pm BST
2nd over: England 5-0 (Robson 3, Cook 1)
Runs off the bat! Eranga bowls, Robson pushes one to cover and runs a couple, and a couple of singles follow. "Maybe Cook and England are trying to take a bit of the heat off of Hodgson, Rooney, Gerrard et al," suggests Simon McMahon. "Very considerate of them I reckon."
4.41pm BST
1st over: England 1-0 (Robson 0, Cook 0)
So here we go. Pradeep gets the ball rolling, and gets one to move slightly away from Robson and just that far from the edge of the bat. "So, close of play, England 28 for three, with Jordan night watching with Ballance," predicts Ant. "I know, I'm stupidly optimistic, but that's how I am."
4.30pm BST
Innings break
So there it is. The teams scuttle off to the dressing rooms, and England need to take a long, hard look at themselves. They also need 350 runs.
4.28pm BST
131.5 overs: Sri Lanka 457 all out. Lead by 349
Eranga wants runs here, and he's darn well going to get them. He pummels one through midwicket for four, and clubs another to the long-off boundary at elbow height, like a rounders shot by somebody with unusually short arms. Then he takes his single, leaving Pradeep to face a couple of deliveries. Which is at least two too many.
4.27pm BST
Pradeep finally faces a ball and it cleans out his wicket!
4.24pm BST
131st over: Sri Lanka 448-9 (Eranga 11, Pradeep 0) Lead by 340
Still time for a bit more torture for England. Plunkett bowls to Eranga, who runs two from his first delivery, sends Nos two and three to the rope, and then gets a single off the last to keep strike. "Do you think it possible that Cook is committing hara kiri here on the over rate so he gets banned from the next test rather than being dropped?" wonders Jason Streets. Interesting theory
4.20pm BST
131st over: Sri Lanka 437-9 (Eranga 0, Pradeep 0) Lead by 329
Anderson bowls. Mathews faces five deliveries slamming the first through the covers for four but then his final-delivery plans go a little awry.
4.19pm BST
The last ball of the over and Mathews, looking for his standard final-delivery single, slaps a full toss straight to Ali at square leg. Finally, he's gone but it it too late for England?
Mathews out for 160 - the highest 2nd-inns score by a visiting batsman in England since Greenidge's 214* at Lord's in 1984. #engvsl
4.14pm BST
130th over: Sri Lanka 433-8 (Mathews 156, Eranga 0) Lead by 325
Ali bowls, Mathews faces five deliveries slamming the fifth over midwicket for four and then grabs a single off the last to keep strike. Not much of a cricket shot, the last one, as he tries a sweep and bottom-edges the ball just past the stumps to fine leg.
4.11pm BST
129th over: Sri Lanka 428-8 (Mathews 151, Eranga 0) Lead by 318
So here we are, Mathews is set and there's a new lower-order batsman at the other end. Do England stick with the tactics they used last time? Because they worked so well with Herath, after all. So far so familiar, as Mathews sees off four deliveries, grabs a single off the fifth and Eranga survives the sixth.
4.07pm BST
128th over: Sri Lanka 427-8 (Mathews 150, Eranga 0) Lead by 318
One run from Ali's over, which is enough to bring up Mathews' 150. England are still reeling from Bowden's howler.
Hot spot shows an outside edge from Eranga but he is given not out after being caught behind. http://t.co/A2iLS0ZVII pic.twitter.com/GkfTvibRAZ
4.05pm BST
127th over: Sri Lanka 426-8 (Mathews 149, Eranga 0) Lead by 318
Anderson takes the first over of the final session, bowling at Eranga, but though he edges one to third slip it lands a couple of feet short. The next ball is edged through to Prior, and Anderson wheels off in celebration before looking back to see Bowden shaking his head and the batsman staying put. England have no reviews left, and shouldn't have needed one that was an absolute howler from the umpire (which is what reviews are made for, after all, but they've been all used up on optimistic punts).
3.42pm BST
And that's the end of the session, a resoundingly miserable one for England and an absolutely terrific one for the tourists. I'll be back in a few minutes.
3.41pm BST
126th over: Sri Lanka 426-8 (Mathews 149) Lead by 318
Mathews hits Ali's fourth and fifth deliveries down the ground for four, but just when it looked like he could do no wrong, he did wrong. "Mathews has been brilliant," writes Harry Tuttle. "It seems like a good example of captaincy bringing the best out of a player but he has been allowed to settle into a routine. I'd like to see Root and Ali bowling in tandem. It's easy to say give it some air and bring the field up, but the win has gone. Let's just try and set some problems. Otherwise, I suppose it will be fun to say 'I was there' for Herath's maiden Test century."
3.39pm BST
The only way England were going to get a wicket was if Sri Lanka gave them one. Mathews wants a run from the last ball of the over, starts off, changes his mind and leaves his team-mate stranded.
3.36pm BST
125th over: Sri Lanka 417-7 (Herath 47, Mathews 141) Lead by 309
Anderson bowls short and wide and Mathews helps himself to four more.
Superb century from Mathews. Proper captain - tough, uncompromising, bold & leading from the front. Wish we had one like him. #ENGvSL
3.32pm BST
124th over: Sri Lanka 413-7 (Herath 47, Mathews 137) Lead by 305
Mathews gets the finest possible touch to the ball, which zips past Prior and trundles away for four. This has been a grindingly unpleasant session for England, in which only once when Plunkett should have caught Mathews on 87 have they really seriously come close to a breakthrough. Is this pitch totally benign, or is this team totally exhausted/rudderless?
3.28pm BST
123rd over: Sri Lanka 408-7 (Herath 47, Mathews 132) Lead by 300
Herath hits Anderson for successive boundaries and Sri Lanka lead by 300 runs. Three hundred runs. The bowler does get the last ball to jag into Herath's pad, but Bowden doesn't think it would have hit the stumps (it wouldn't) and England have no more reviews to waste.
3.24pm BST
122nd over: Sri Lanka 400-7 (Herath 39, Mathews 132) Lead by 292
Ali bowls to Herath, who sweeps perfectly for four and then grabs a single off the last ball that's Herath grabbing a single off the last ball to bring up 400 for Sri Lanka.
3.22pm BST
121st over: Sri Lanka 395-7 (Herath 34, Mathews 132) Lead by 287
Broad is back in the dressing-room having his optimism levels recalibrated, so Anderson does some bowling initially at Herath, until he grabs a leg bye off the first delivery. Then Mathews edges to third man for four. And John Ashdown has evidence of a previous Herath half-century on English soil, batting No4 for Moddershall against Burslem in 2009.
3.16pm BST
120th over: Sri Lanka 389-7 (Herath 34, Mathews 128) Lead by 277
Ali bowls, and Mathews hits a boundary while I'm looking to see if anyone's said anything interesting on Twitter.
8th-wkt stand now 106. Previously in this series, SL's 7th-10th wickets had scored 89 for 12.
3.14pm BST
119th over: Sri Lanka 385-7 (Herath 34, Mathews 124) Lead by 277
Five-sixth of a maiden over from Broad to Mathews, at which point he becomes desperate just to keep Herath on strike for Ali's next over. He bowls down the leg side, and is frustrated to see it called a wide. So he bowls a yorker, Mathews pushes it to mid-wicket and runs a single. Rats.
3.09pm BST
118th over: Sri Lanka 383-7 (Herath 34, Mathews 123) Lead by 275
Mathews lets his mask of invincibility slip, smacking the ball in the air towards deep midwicket (but not quite all the way to deep midwicket).
STAT ALERT: Mathews' century the 1st by a visiting batsman in the 2nd innings of a Headingley Test since Vengsarkar's 102* in 1986. #engvsl
3.06pm BST
117th over: Sri Lanka 382-7 (Herath 34, Mathews 122) Lead by 274
Herath flicks Broad's first ball off his hip for four to bring up the 100 partnership and raise the lead to 270. And he keeps going, pushing another past square leg for another boundary. Both good strokes, but he hasn't suddenly morphed into Viv Richards he takes a wild swing at the last ball of the over and misses it completely.
3.02pm BST
116th over: Sri Lanka 374-7 (Herath 26, Mathews 122) Lead by 266
Dropped! Herath goes on one knee to sweep and hits the ball into the top of the pad that's down on the ground and bounces back up. Prior sets off, dives and the ball is in his glove for the briefest of moments before it comes out again. Herath celebrates his let-off by cutting for four.
2.58pm BST
115th over: Sri Lanka 367-7 (Herath 21, Mathews 120) Lead by 259
England's seam bowlers are like so many dead horses being repeatedly flogged, with varying degrees of ferocity. Mathews hooks straight to Robson at square leg, the ball landing a couple of feet before the fielder, and then sends the next over mid-off and away to the boundary, not a clean strike but clean enough.
2.54pm BST
114th over: Sri Lanka 363-7 (Herath 21, Mathews 116) Lead by 255
Ali bowls, and Mathews sees off four balls and takes a single off the fifth. He's basically doing whatever he pleases. One ball is nearly enough for Ali to deal with Herath. But isn't.
@simon_burnton Soon Matthews' biggest problem will be not leaving the declaration too late.
2.53pm BST
The ball was probably going on to clip the very top of the stumps, but it's too close for the on-field decision to be overturned.
2.52pm BST
England think so. Steve Davis does not. Is it too high?
2.46pm BST
113th over: Sri Lanka 362-7 (Herath 21, Mathews 115) Lead by 254
After a bit of a huddle with Cook and Anderson, in which they each check that the others are still conscious, Stuart Broad does bowling, and Mathews slightly mishits a shot to the long-on boundary and then grabs a last-ball single to keep strike. "So, how long do you think Sri Lanka will keep going before they declare?" wonders StJohn Bird. "Will they want a lead of over 300 or do you think they'll want to try and wrap it all up before lunchtime tomorrow? Followed, no doubt, by a square-jawed resignation speech by someone or other " I think they'll want to extend their lead a bit yet, but having said they'd be happy with a lead of 225, they'll be feeling increasingly confident about the next 24 hours or so.
2.39pm BST
112th over: Sri Lanka 357-7 (Herath 21, Mathews 110) Lead by 249
Ali bowls, and Mathews prods the ball to midwicket, who halfheartedly falls over it, gifting Sri Lanka a single. England aren't exactly exuding up-and-at-em go-get-itness this afternoon.
2.36pm BST
111th over: Sri Lanka 354-7 (Herath 19, Mathews 109) Lead by 246
Jordan is still bowling, and Mathews disdainfully slams the ball back over the bowler's head for a one-bounce boundary. England really should have appealed that kind-of-chance in the 100th over it's as close as they've come to anything much in this session.
2.30pm BST
110th over: Sri Lanka 347-7 (Herath 19, Mathews 102) Lead by 239
Spin! The ball is finally thrown to Moeen Ali, to wild cheers from the crowd, and he gets five balls at Mathews and then one to Herath, which is preceded by a lengthy chat with his captain and much field-tweaking, and results in a common-or-garden defensive prod. "Great tactics," applauds Rod Hall. "Tire Herath by making him bat so that he's too shagged out to run through England's batsmen."
2.26pm BST
109th over: Sri Lanka 346-7 (Herath 19, Mathews 101) Lead by 238
Chris Jordan is still bowling. "Severe man-crush on Matthews developing here," admits Gareth Fitzgerald. "Hearing he was disgusted with his two previous partners is giving me a warm feeling too."
2.21pm BST
108th over: Sri Lanka 345-7 (Herath 19, Mathews 100) Lead by 237
It's all very well turning down singles early in overs, but you don't play around with that kind of nonsense when you're on 99. Mathews prods Plunkett's first delivery to a fielder deep in the covers and sprints off, arm raised. Herath shows his trust/desperation isn't misplaced, by surviving the rest of the over chancelessly.
@Simon_Burnton England's Ali may not be The Greatest, but please can Cook give him a go and see if he can break this partnership?
2.17pm BST
107th over: Sri Lanka 344-7 (Herath 19, Mathews 99) Lead by 236
Jordan keeps bowling. Ali keeps not bowling. It's so bewildering Sri Lanka spend the entire over discombobulatedly failing to score.
2.14pm BST
106th over: Sri Lanka 344-7 (Herath 19, Mathews 99) Lead by 236
Herath swings wildly at Plunkett's first delivery, misses it completely and bounces (low) six inches wide of the stumps. Mathews immediately comes to tell his partner to sort it out. A few balls and a single later, Plunkett bowls short and wide to Mathews, gets away with it, does it again and concedes a boundary. The batsmen are going to party like they're 19 and 99.
2.08pm BST
105th over: Sri Lanka 339-7 (Herath 15, Mathews 95) Lead by 231
Jordan isn't making Herath's life enormously difficult here, and his first delivery gives him time and space to push the ball through the covers, and they run three to leave Mathews on strike. Indeed, the only person whose life is currently being complicated by Jordan's bowling is Cook, which is not as it should be. A few moments later Mathews gets another boundary, flicking the ball off his pad to square fine leg.
2.04pm BST
104th over: Sri Lanka 332-7 (Herath 15, Mathews 91) Lead by 225
Mathews refuses a run that could very easily have been two, because it was early in the over and he doesn't want to let Plunkett bowl at Herath. Instead he waits until the final delivery and bonks it classily to the long on boundary.
If England are to win they would need to record the third highest successful run chase in a test at Headingley. #EngvSL
2.00pm BST
103rd over: Sri Lanka 328-7 (Herath 15, Mathews 87) Lead by 220
Jordan has another whole over at Herath, whose highlights are an attempted pull that sees the ball clip the top edge of the bat and loop way over Prior and away for a four; and a much less fortunate boundary two balls later, a short, wide delivery cut to third man.
1.55pm BST
102nd over: Sri Lanka 320-7 (Herath 7, Mathews 87) Lead by 212
Mathews is refusing all early-over singles, which is keeping the score down a bit but probably also keeping Sri Lanka in. He is not, however, refusing late-over boundaries, and the fifth delivery is crashed through midwicket. But then his last shot of the over goes hopelessly wrong, and Mathews pops it back to the bowler with the toe of his bat. It's not a very hard catch, but Plunkett lets the ball through his hands, off his chest and back to ground.
1.50pm BST
101st over: Sri Lanka 315-7 (Herath 7, Mathews 83) Lead by 207
Jordan rampages in from the other end, and Herath throws his bat around sylelessly without touching the ball. After three wild swishes Mathews strolls down the wicket to tell him to sort it out, and he sorts it out. A maiden.
1.46pm BST
100th over: Sri Lanka 315-7 (Herath 7, Mathews 83) Lead by 207
Plunkett bangs one in short to Mathews, who swings his bat at it. There seems to be a tiny noise on its way through to Prior, who attempts a one-man appeal. The umpire's not impressed, but Snicko suggests the tiniest feather touch. Three balls later he leans back and eases the ball to the boundary at backward point, a(nother) nice shot.
1.42pm BST
'Afternoon everybody
A nicely poised match, this. With Sri Lanka's lead already over 200 England need to finish this innings sharpish and hope that Herath doesn't find too much encouragement in a dusty day-four pitch (which looks like it'll offer him plenty of encouragement). Sky tell me that on only three of 26 occasions when a team has been set a target of 200 or above to win a Test at Headingley have they achieved it. The players are on their way back out, so gird thy loins everyone, cricket is happening.
1.03pm BST
Sri Lanka 311-7 a lead of 203. Another absorbing session of Test cricket. It went one way, England clawed themselves back into it with three quick wickets, then Herath and Mathews got stuck in. It could go either way, this. Simon Burnton will be your guide after lunch.
1.01pm BST
99th over: Sri Lanka 311-7 (Herath 7, Mathews 79) Lead by 203 Herath looks happy enough with anything full, and then from the third ball he pivots and pulls Broad hard for four! Fine shot. That takes the Sri Lanka lead over 200. And two more from the next keep it marching onwards. And that's lunch,.
12.58pm BST
98th over: Sri Lanka 305-7 (Herath 1, Mathews 79) Lead by 197 Plunkett to Mathews. Block, block, leave, paddle-pull. Then, as Mathews steps away to leg, Plunkett follows him and cramps him for space. And from the last, he can't get hold of another pull properly. A maiden so Herath will be on strike for the final over before lunch
12.53pm BST
97th over: Sri Lanka 305-7 (Herath 1, Mathews 79) Lead by 197 Broad to Mathews. Block, block, leave, turn down the single. Then a dabbed single to leg. Herath has one ball to survive and he does.
Anyone know what's going on here? Root and Plunkett celebrate the wicket of Prasad
12.48pm BST
96th over: Sri Lanka 304-7 (Herath 1, Mathews 78) Lead by 196 Plunkett bombards Herath with some short stuff, which the spinner ducks with little fuss. Then he was a wild swing and one pitched up. The last is a no ball, which gives Plunkett another go at the No9 but he digs out an attempted yorker. Perhaps three more overs until lunch. Can this pair survive?
12.45pm BST
95th over: Sri Lanka 303-7 (Herath 1, Mathews 78) Lead by 195 Broad returns. Mathews on strike, so you know how this tune goes. He turns down a single off the fourth ball, then, with the field up, drives square of the wicket for four. A lovely shot. He can't put bat on the last ball. Which is good news for England. The reason he couldn't put bat on the last ball was low bounce. Which is bad news for England.
12.39pm BST
94th over: Sri Lanka 299-7 (Herath 1, Mathews 74) Lead by 191 Aaaaaand that's why Mathews is farming with the care and attention of the Joad family. From the first ball of Plunkett's over Herath is in a right tangle and is very fortunate to see the ball drop safely over the man at extra cover. Mathews risks a single off the third ball, leaving Herath in the firing line again. He dodges the bullets, though.
12.36pm BST
93rd over: Sri Lanka 297-7 (Herath 0, Mathews 73) Lead by 189 A pattern emerges Mathews blocks a few, then looks for the boundary, then looks for a single. He succeeds with the first two parts, smashing four straight down the ground from Anderson's fifth ball, but the final part eludes him and the final ball is flicked away to fine leg for four more. Which isn't a bad second prize I suppose.
Meanwhile, we've seen a piece of history this morning:
Prasad joins Thirimanne with a 3-ball pair. First recorded instance of a Test team registering two pairs of 3 balls or fewer.
12.31pm BST
92nd over: Sri Lanka 289-7 (Herath 0, Mathews 65) Lead by 181 With Plunkett coming round the wicket and bowling short, Mathews utilises the gentle paddle-pull that he relied on in the first innings. It's a safe shot and he dinks a couple to the man at deep midwicket but turns down the single. Then this is an extraordinary shot. Plunkett goes back over the wicket, Mathews gives him the charge and flicks him into the stands at cow corner for six! Crikey. A single off the next leaves Herath with two balls to face. He survives the first. And they forget the second. The first ball of the over was a wide, but it seemed to have slipped the umpire's mind. The field changes, they get set for Anderson's over and then the message gets through and we come back for the final ball. Which is ducked by Herath.
12.25pm BST
91st over: Sri Lanka 281-7 (Herath 0, Mathews 58) Lead by 173 Mathews clips Anderson away for a couple, then he drives at a full one, edges behind, but the ball dies just in front of Prior. And they nab a single off the last
12.20pm BST
90th over: Sri Lanka 278-7 (Herath 0, Mathews 55) Lead by 170 The batsmen managed to cross while the ball was in the air, so it's Mathews rather than Herath on strike for the hat-trick ball. Plunkett comes round the wicket and looks to get the ball lifting into Mathews' ribcage but it's pulled in controlled fashion for a single. Herath survives the last, with a very awkward back-foot fend. Sri Lanka's hopes are all on Mathews here.
12.16pm BST
Two in two balls! Another short one, the new batsman looks to loft the ball over the slips. He does so, but also manages to loft the ball into Root's hands at third man. Hat-trick ball coming up
12.15pm BST
This was coming. Liam Plunkett is back. And Chandimal is back in the pavilion. The bowler digs one in, Chandimal takes it on, but only succeeds in picking out Ballance in the deep. He snaffles an awkward catch.
12.11pm BST
89th over: Sri Lanka 276-5 (Chandimal 7, Mathews 53) Lead by 168 Chandimal, looking a little skittish out there, tickles a leggish delivery away to fine leg for four then drives for a couple more. He's trusting his hand-eye co-ordination outside off, but that strikes me as a sure-fire route to a nick behind. He does well to dig out a yorker but then gets blasted off his feet with the next, another yorker. The appeal goes up, Bowden shakes his head, and England opt to review. But it's surely going down and the replays show that indeed it is. In fact, it would've missed a fourth stump. And might have clipped the outside of a fifth. It's a wasted review but Chandimal doesn't look at all comfortable out there.
12.05pm BST
88th over: Sri Lanka 269-5 (Chandimal 1, Mathews 53) Lead by 161 Chandimal showed in the first innings that he's more than capable of scoring runs at Test level. Broad, though, gets one to rear up into the gloves as Chandimal props forward. And then there's an extraordinary let-off, with the batsman mistiming an expansive drive and looping the ball into the covers. It drops safe. England can smell blood here.
12.00pm BST
87th over: Sri Lanka 268-5 (Chandimal 0, Mathews 52) Lead by 160 England have the breakthrough. Finally Anderson found the right length and just enough away swing to find the edge. Jayawardene might be annoyed at himself as the shot wasn't strictly necessary, but it was a very, very good ball.
11.58am BST
Pitched up. Swung away. Driven at. Nicked behind.
11.55am BST
86th over: Sri Lanka 267-4 (Jayawardene 79, Mathews 51) Lead by 159 A beautiful Broad delivery shapes away from Mathews and has him fumbling clumsily outside off. But, like U2 without their guitarist, there's no edge.
11.50am BST
85th over: Sri Lanka 266-4 (Jayawardene 79, Mathews 50) Lead by 158 Anderson again. It's a little better from England's Attack Leader, but from the penultimate ball Mathews is able to shovel away a single that takes him to a fine half century. His Test record really is excellent.
11.45am BST
84th over: Sri Lanka 265-4 (Jayawardene 79, Mathews 49) Lead by 157 Broad zips one past the outside edge of Jayawardene's defensive prod in fact, he might have drawn his bat away. It's a better over from Broad, though, and with the fifth ball he has Jayawardene top-edging a cut to Bell in the gully it's hard to tell from the TV pictures whether it carried, but the reactions on the field suggest that it did.
11.43am BST
83rd over: Sri Lanka 265-4 (Jayawardene 79, Mathews 49) Lead by 157 The first runs off Anderson this morning too short, too wide and dabbed economically behind square by Jayawardene for a boundary that takes the Sri Lanka lead past 150. The next is also slashed away it should go to the rope, but instead the man at point makes the stop. And with Anderson fighting to find his line, he strays onto Mathews' pads and gets clipped for another boundary at fine leg. It feels like we need an ominous musical soundtrack for this. Can anyone do better than the Jaws theme?
11.38am BST
82nd over: Sri Lanka 256-4 (Jayawardene 74, Mathews 45) Lead by 148 Broad tempts Mathews outside off and the Sri Lanka captain plants his front foot down the track and swings like he's on the first tee at Augusta. He connects only with fresh Yorkshire air. Broad's a bit straighter than Anderson, though, and there are five more dots before the last is run through gully by Mathews for a couple.
11.33am BST
81st over: Sri Lanka 254-4 (Jayawardene 74, Mathews 43) Lead by 146 Jimmy Anderson takes the new cherry and immediately Jayawardene looks slightly less comfortable. When he's made to play, that is. And that's not often enough here. Still, a maiden.
11.30am BST
80th over: Sri Lanka 254-4 (Jayawardene 74, Mathews 43) Lead by 146 Moeen Ali is going to get an over this morning after all. There's nothing to unduly bother the batsmen but there is a bit of turn out there now. Mathews rocks back and cracks a cut forward of square for four more. Forty four runs have been added to the tally in the seven old ball overs this morning. And now it's time for the new ball and a potentially vital spell for England's (and Alastair Cook's) summer
11.26am BST
79th over: Sri Lanka 248-4 (Jayawardene 73, Mathews 38) Lead by 140 Too much width again from Jordan and Jayawardene crashes him through the covers for four. Fine shot. This pitch looks a perfectly nice place to bat today (against pace at least) is that good news or bad news for England?
11.22am BST
78th over: Sri Lanka 240-4 (Jayawardene 68, Mathews 35) Lead by 132 As Ravi Nair emails to point out, it's a shame but not a surprise that Cook has not put his faith in Moeen Ali this morning. Plunkett is milked for a few more singles.
11.18am BST
77th over: Sri Lanka 236-4 (Jayawardene 65, Mathews 34) Lead by 124 As Ravi Nair emails to point out, it's a shame but not a surprise that Cook hasn't put his faith in Ali this morning Jordan continues and it's a tidy over until the final ball, which is a little full, a little wide and a little driven through the covers for four by Jayawardene.
one of those days when the ground announcer reads out the crowd changes to the teams. but Headingley sold out for Roses T20 on Friday!
11.14am BST
76th over: Sri Lanka 232-4 (Jayawardene 61, Mathews 34) Lead by 124 Plunkett sends down a miserable half tracker, wide of the off stump, which Mathews flails through the off side for four. Then an outside edge squirts wide of the slips and they run two. A few too many easy runs there.
11.10am BST
75th over: Sri Lanka 222-4 (Jayawardene 60, Mathews 26) Lead by 114 It'll be Chris Jordan at the other end and Jayawardene plays and misses loosely outside off. But the batsmen are able to milk a couple of singles without further scare. There's a danger here that England just sit in and wait for the new ball, something they were guilty of on a number of occasions against Australia a year ago.
11.05am BST
74th over: Sri Lanka 219-4 (Jayawardene 58, Mathews 25) Lead by 111 Plunkett begins with the ball, and with a half volley on the pads that Jayawardene tucks away for two. A single, then after one of the regular breaks we've had for pigeon clearance the bowler squares Mathews up a touch with the next. Five from the over, though.
10.59am BST
Jerusalem. Satanic hills, green mills, ancient feet, pleasant lambs etc and so forth. Out come the players.
10.55am BST
It's Monday morning. It's a bit grey. I feel we might need a little cheering up. So here's Dwayne Leverock:
10.51am BST
The awkward fourth-innings chase hasn't been much of a feature of England's success in recent years. They've not really chased down a substantial target since Dhaka in 2010. And they've only twice ever chased down targets in excess of 200 at Headingley against Australia in 2001 when they reached 315 and against Pakistan in 1982 when our very own VJ Marks took England home.
10.34am BST
Morning/afternoon/evening all. Have a good weekend? Excellent. Me? Fine, thanks for asking.
England? Less so. Between Saturday afternoon and Monday morning they've managed to go to from a position of near total strength, with victory looking a certainty, to a very dicey situation indeed, with Sri Lanka leading by 106, Mahela Jayawardene and Angelo Mathews still at the crease and Rangana Herath's spin still to come.
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