England face a challenge to save the first Test against Sri Lanka, but a docile pitch gives them hope of salvaging a draw, according to coach Peter Moores.
England will resume on the fifth day on nine for one needing a further 341 runs for an unlikely victory after Sri Lanka dominated with the bat on Tuesday.
''As the game has gone on the scores have got higher and this tells you that it is hard work to bowl people out,'' Moores told reporters. ''(Muttiah) Muralitharan will be a challenge as he is a champion - we know that,'' he added.
''But the lack of bounce on the wicket might make it easier for the players to negate. Pitch has changed quite a lot - it's quite dried out and there wasn't much seam movement.'' Moores paid tribute to Kumar Sangakkara, who scored 152, the fourth time in consecutive tests that he has reached 150.
''To be fair to them, Sangakkara and (Mahela) Jayawardene batted beautifully this morning,'' said Moores.
''Sangakkara is in a purple patch of form, is lining up the ball well and is at the top of his game - he is going to be a real challenge in the series.
''We got a good look at him today so the job for us will be between now and the next test to come up with some plans to stop him.'' Sangakkara credited his recent run of huge scores on his preparation.
''A lot of hard work has gone into this and I have begun to understand my game a lot in the last couple of years or so,'' he said. It was his 16th Test hundred and he said he was targeting 30 in his career.
Scorecard:
Sri Lanka (1st innings): 188
England (1st innings): 281
Sri Lanka (2nd innings, overnight 167-2):
M Vandort c Bell b Anderson 49
S Jayasuriya lbw b Hoggard 78
K Sangakkara c Vaughan b Collingwood 152
M Jayawardene c Prior b Hoggard 65
C Silva lbw b Panesar 37
J Mubarak c (sub) b Panesar 9
P Jayawardene b Collingwood 20
C Vaas not out 6
L Malinga b Panesar 2
D Fernando not out 9
Extras: (b-5, lb-10) 15
Total: (eight wickets, 130 overs) 442
Fall of wickets: 1-113, 2-166, 3-288, 4-359, 5-387, 6-423, 7-426, 8-429
Bowling: Hoggard 18-5-55-2, Sidebottom 25-5-65-0, Panesar 45-5-132-3, Anderson 23-4-128-1, Bopara 8-3-16-0, Vaughan 3-0-6-0, Collingwood 8-0-25-2
England (2nd innings):
A Cook c Silva b Vaas 4
M Vaughan not out 1
J Anderson not out 4
Extras: 0
Total: (one wicket, 5 overs) 9
Fall of wicket: 1-4
Bowling: C Vaas 2-0-7-1, L Malinga 1-1-0-0, M Muralitharan 1-0-2-0, S Jayasuriya 1-1-0-0
