Sam Curran scored his third Test fifty
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Sam Curran and Jos Buttler rescued England with knocks of 64 and 63 respectively after Sri Lanka left the tourists in a spot of bother on the first day of the second Test in Kandy.
Opting to bat first, England made a dismal start to their innings as opener Keaton Jennings was caught behind off the bowling of stand-in captain Suranga Lakmal for one run.
Ben Stokes, who was promoted up to the number three spot, mustered 19 runs before he was trapped lbw off the bowling of Dilruwan Perera.
England captain Joe Root was the next to go as he was clean bowled by Malinda Pushpakumara for 14.
Rory Burns, who opened the batting with Jennings, managed to score 43 before he was caught by Dhananjaya de Silva off the bowling of Akila Dananjaya.
Moeen Ali and Buttler added 45 runs to the score before Moeen was given out lbw off the bowling of Pushpakumara for 10.
Ben Foakes fell shortly after, while Buttler went on to score a 67-ball 63, which included seven boundaries, before he was caught by Dimith Karunaratne at backward point off the bowling of Pushpakumara.
Jos Buttler struck his 11th half-century in Test cricket
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Curran and Rashid kept Sri Lanka at bay for a while with a 45-run partnership before Rashid was trapped lbw off the bowling of Dilruwan for 31.
Jack Leach was on his way back to the pavilion soon after, which prompted Curran to go on the offensive.
Curran ended up scoring 64, which came off 119 balls and included a boundary and six sixes, before he was caught by Karunaratne at long-off off the bowling of Dilruwan.
With Curran leading the charge, he and James Anderson put together a 60-run partnership, which enabled England to reach 285 before they were bowled out.
Dilruwan was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets, while Pushpakumara snapped up three, Dananjaya chipped in with two and Lakmal claimed one.
Trailing by 285 runs, Sri Lanka lost opener Kaushal Silva in the eighth over as he was clean bowled by Leach for six runs.
Karunaratne and Pushpakumara, who was sent in as the nightwatchman, managed to forge an unbeaten four-run partnership before stumps was called.
Karunaratne finished on 19, which came off 42 balls and included a boundary, while Pushpakumara remained undefeated on one.
Leach was the only bowler to take a wicket.
Sri Lanka ended day one on 26/1 and will continue batting on Thursday at 10:00 local time or 04:30 GMT.