<p class="title">In a day of sublime and ridiculous cricket, Jos Buttler halted a batting collapse while Moeen Ali claimed key wickets on Sunday to keep England on track for victory in the third and final Test against Sri Lanka.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The home side were reeling at 53-4 at the close of the third day as they chased an unlikely 327 to avoid suffering only their third whitewash series defeat on home territory.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Dilruwan Perera took Keaton Jennings lbw with the first ball of the third day to shake England who at one stage looked in trouble on 39-4 after more failures by their top-order batsmen.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But after the scare, spinner Lakshan Sandakan made basic blunders that set the tone for England to score 230 and set their sights on a third straight win.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The left-arm spinner had Stokes caught at cover on 22, then at slip on 32, only for replays to show Sandakan had overstepped the bowling line on each occasion.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Stokes had to be called back from his march to the pavilion both times. He shook his head in disbelief as he walked off for lunch.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Buttler was given out lbw on 27 to part-time spinner Dhananjaya de Silva, but the decision was overturned by a review which deemed the ball was heading over the stumps.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The pair came back to complete an 89-run fifth wicket stand that rescued England and became the centrepiece of the second innings total.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Buttler made 64, Stokes 42 and Ben Foakes an unbeaten 36. England scored just 11 boundaries, with the lower order batsmen sweeping singles and doubles to build the score.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Spinner Perera took a creditable 5-88 to pass 100 wickets in home Tests but Sri Lanka's batting crumbled in the hour they faced, and an England victory inside four days looks near certain.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Moeen Ali opened the bowling for England and took openers Danushka Gunathilaka for six and Dimuth Karunaratne for 23 on the spin paradise pitch.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Jack Leach claimed Dhananjaya de Silva, who failed to score, while Stuart Broad took a brilliant catch off Stokes to end Angelo Mathews' innings after nine balls which produced five runs.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Buttler said after that it would be "fantastic" for England to get a rare whitewash triumph in an overseas series.</p>.<p class="bodytext">India, whose position as number one Test nation is now at risk, did the same in their tour of Sri Lanka last year.</p>.<p class="bodytext">England scored 336 in their first innings and Sri Lanka 240.</p>.<p class="byline">AFP</p>
<p class="title">In a day of sublime and ridiculous cricket, Jos Buttler halted a batting collapse while Moeen Ali claimed key wickets on Sunday to keep England on track for victory in the third and final Test against Sri Lanka.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The home side were reeling at 53-4 at the close of the third day as they chased an unlikely 327 to avoid suffering only their third whitewash series defeat on home territory.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Dilruwan Perera took Keaton Jennings lbw with the first ball of the third day to shake England who at one stage looked in trouble on 39-4 after more failures by their top-order batsmen.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But after the scare, spinner Lakshan Sandakan made basic blunders that set the tone for England to score 230 and set their sights on a third straight win.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The left-arm spinner had Stokes caught at cover on 22, then at slip on 32, only for replays to show Sandakan had overstepped the bowling line on each occasion.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Stokes had to be called back from his march to the pavilion both times. He shook his head in disbelief as he walked off for lunch.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Buttler was given out lbw on 27 to part-time spinner Dhananjaya de Silva, but the decision was overturned by a review which deemed the ball was heading over the stumps.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The pair came back to complete an 89-run fifth wicket stand that rescued England and became the centrepiece of the second innings total.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Buttler made 64, Stokes 42 and Ben Foakes an unbeaten 36. England scored just 11 boundaries, with the lower order batsmen sweeping singles and doubles to build the score.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Spinner Perera took a creditable 5-88 to pass 100 wickets in home Tests but Sri Lanka's batting crumbled in the hour they faced, and an England victory inside four days looks near certain.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Moeen Ali opened the bowling for England and took openers Danushka Gunathilaka for six and Dimuth Karunaratne for 23 on the spin paradise pitch.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Jack Leach claimed Dhananjaya de Silva, who failed to score, while Stuart Broad took a brilliant catch off Stokes to end Angelo Mathews' innings after nine balls which produced five runs.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Buttler said after that it would be "fantastic" for England to get a rare whitewash triumph in an overseas series.</p>.<p class="bodytext">India, whose position as number one Test nation is now at risk, did the same in their tour of Sri Lanka last year.</p>.<p class="bodytext">England scored 336 in their first innings and Sri Lanka 240.</p>.<p class="byline">AFP</p>