at lord s. look, not wearing a tie. joss buttler wasjoe root s chief supporter. he made 55 before he was out like this. the replays approved the ball went from bad to boot to field, did not hit the ground, so it was out caught. the rest basically fell like this. sam curran, one of seven wickets for sri lanka s new bowling star. but the captain knew the way. this took him to another landmark, to 150. he was still improvising, still scoring, hours of toil, england needed root because sri lanka still had embuldeniya, here dismissing dom bess. england were 42 behind. joe rootjust had to see it out. forward, scramble back to late. replays showed he didn t make it. he had scored 186 and yet still felt despondent that s the captain.
four for don best. as england gradually neared sri lanka s score. joe root knew the way. with this shot, another celebration. his score to 150. batting from sunrise to sunset, almost. he kept improvising, kept scoring. bess fell like many others. the final minutes of the day. root forward and scrambling back. replays showed the bail coming off before his bat reached the crease. 186 and gutted. joe wilson, bbc news. so close there for root just missing out on another double century. it was an education, and lesson in skill for others to follow according tojos buttler, who reached his half century in galle. quite amazing innings. to back up his double hundred in the first test, both physically and mentally, showing the application to go
Birding the lake area – Dhahran Hills
The lake area in Dhahran is now large as additional water is being pumped into it. It has started to attract good numbers of herons with Little Egret, Great Egret, Grey Heron, Squacco Herron and Cattle Egret all in good numbers. Great Egret is the scarcest of all the egrets but up to seven have been seen in the last few weeks. In the early morning hundreds of Great Cormorant come to the lake to wash and catch the large numbers of Talapia fish present, but are very nervous and do not allow close approach. Common Black-headed Gulls also arrive in good numbers in the early morning but then generally hang around all day. A single Black-necked Grebe and Common Kingfisher have been present for several weeks but again do not allow you to get too close. Several terns are also present which is a little surprising as the lake is a long way from the coast with Gull-billed Tern, White-winged and Whiskered Tern all present, mainly in the evenings.
straight to deep mid wicket. well, by then, he d made 228. a monumental innings. it felt like a match winning performance. well, not yet. up the stairs, lunch, prepare to bowl. home side batting again, 286 behind, with plenty to prove. there s more to sri lanka than ducks. four noughts on the scorecard in the first innings, a strong start this time. and england had a problem, for the first time how to dismiss those who stubbornly remain. well, kusal perera could have hit this anywhere. he found a fielder. sometimes, the luck s with you. sometimes. 0ne caught, now one dropped. thirimanne to sibley. and down. and the captain, well, it s still a lovely view from up there. sri lanka s fightback continued, as the skies darkened. england needed something before the close. here it comes. 0h, beauty! just a faint touch.
home side batting again, 286 behind, with plenty to prove. there s more to sri lanka than ducks. four noughts on the scorecard in the first innings, a strong start this time. and england had a problem, for the first time how to dismiss those who stubbornly remain. well, kusal perera could have hit this anywhere. he found a fielder. sometimes, the luck s with you. sometimes. one caught, now one dropped. thirimanne to sibley. and down. and the captain, well, it s still a lovely view from up there. sri lanka s fightback continued, as the skies darkened. england needed something before the close. here it comes. 0h, beauty! just a faint touch. jack leach s delivery found the batsman s glove. kusal mendis out. sri lanka will resume still 130 behind. it s a contest. well, it s a test match. joe wilson, bbc news.