England were missing the injured Mark Wood as Sri Lanka fought hard to keep the first Test alive on day four at Emirates Old Trafford.
Wood left the field mid-over on Friday evening and was ruled out with a thigh problem, robbing the hosts of their fastest bowler as they attempted to wrap up Sri Lanka’s innings and push for victory in Manchester.
Without his pace and penetration they failed to take a wicket in 80 minutes as the composed Kamindu Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal put on 71 runs without loss.
When rain arrived to force the teams off before lunch, the tourists had moved 153 ahead on 275 for six.
England arrived with high hopes of bundling their opponents out early after breaking Angelo Mathews’ resistance late on day three but instead found themselves put on the back foot with eight boundaries in the first hour.
Chris Woakes produced a beauty to beat the bat with the first ball of the day but that was a rarity as Kamindu progressed serenely to 90 not out and Chandimal reached an unbeaten 57.
Chandimal would have been happier than most about Wood’s absence, having retired hurt on Friday following a 90mph blow to the hand. It took X-rays to confirm he had escaped a fracture and he showed plenty of heart to play his part in Sri Lanka’s resistance.
England were a little flat as they searched for the breakthrough, Gus Atkinson at one stage shipping 25 off two overs and Shoaib Bashir struggling to make an impact with his off-spin.
Bashir had nought for 77 off his 20 overs when the weather turned. For Kamindu the delay interrupted his pursuit of a third Test century in his first six innings at the highest level.
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