Before tea, the tourists had dropped to 93-5, but by the time terrible light forced an early closure, they had recovered to 211-5. As a result, Sri Lanka was now 114 runs behind England's 325 first-inning total. On the second day of the third Test at the Oval on Saturday, Sri Lanka skipper Dhananjaya de Silva and the formidable Kamindu Mendis tormented England with an unbroken century combination.

After Ollie Pope scored 154, his maiden century as England captain, Sri Lanka was now 114 runs behind England's first-inning total of 325. As Sri Lanka attempted to recover some prestige after falling behind 2-0 in a three-match series, De Silva was 64 not out and Kamindu Mendis was 54 not out in an unbeaten partnership of 118.