England lost four wickets on the third morning against Sri Lanka, leaving them with a fragile 85-run lead in the second Test.
Rory Burns made a fine 59, his maiden half-century at the fourth attempt, but when he and Ben Stokes were dismissed lbw on the sweep in successive overs it rocked the tourists from a growing position of strength.
At 131 for four much will depend on the Joe Root-Jos Buttler axis in the afternoon session, with all-rounders Moeen Ali and Sam Curran still to come.
What followed was a positively serene stand of 73, England’s best of the match, between Burns and Keaton Jennings. There was a sweet reverse sweep from Jennings to get things going and a flurry of acceleration from Burns when he struck three boundaries in nine balls, but their partnership was mostly built around smart placement and astute running.
The arrears had been briskly wiped out after just 12 overs but the push towards building their own lead stuttered when Jennings (26) picked the wrong ball for his favourite reverse sweep, edging Akila Dananjaya into his chest and then to slip.
Stokes, coming in below captain Root this time, then bagged a two-ball duck, perishing to a similar stroke but sent packing by a straightening delivery from Perera.
Both men burned DRS reviews on their way, with Sri Lanka wasting theirs on speculative lbws.
