England win Kandy classic

Craig White drives England forward to victory

Day Five, Second Test, Kandy:
Sri Lanka: 1st inns 297; 2nd inns 250
England: 1st inns 387; 2nd inns 161-7

England win by three wickets

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England won the second Test and levelled the series against Sri Lanka at one-all with a three-wicket win in Kandy.

After breaking for lunch nine runs shy of victory Craig White and Ashley Giles returned to the action and carried England to their victory target of 161.

The final day of the tempestuous Test was a tense affair as England edged tentatively towards victory.

In a morning session crackling with tension the hosts claimed three vital wickets.

But White stood firm, finishing on 21 not out, to punch the ball into the covers for a winning run that delighted England's huge travelling support.

Hussain celebrates the moment of victory

Prior to the break in play, as England bore down on their target, Sri Lanka had reaped immediate reward and threatened to steal White's thunder with one of their last throws of the dice.

After seeing off the seemingly greater threat of Muttiah Mualitharan and Chaminda Vaas, Kumara Dharmasena trapped Robert Croft lbw in his first over.

The Welshman had been a constant presence throughout the final morning before being dismissed for 17.

But White reasserted England's authority on proceedings with a cover drive boundary which relieved the tension after Sri Lanka were buoyed by the wicket of Croft.

Muralitharan and Vaas returned to the attack but Giles grew into his role as White's support with assured confidence and the pair won through to set up a series decider in Colmobo starting on 14 March.

Vaas made the first vital breakthrough of the day when he trapped Alec Stewart lbw before Grame Hick and Croft began to build a telling partnership.

Sri Lanka plot their next move after dismissing Hick

However moments before the mid-session break Hick was bowled all ends up by a delighted Jayasuriya.

Hick had earlier recieved a lucky break when wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakarra failed to grasp a thick inside edge off the bowling of Vaas.

The out-of-touch batsman made the most of his life with two full blooded drives and saw Vaas out of the attack before falling to Jayasuriya for 16.

Sri Lanka's initial breakthrough came after Stewart had increased his overnight score to seven.

England's wicketkeeper was the latest victim of questionable decision in the Test series as the ball pitched outside leg stump before striking the front pad.

The cricket on offer in the series has often been overshadowed by such decisions.

Players and spectators alike will be hoping such unsavoury incidents can be consigned to the past and that the series reaches a crescendo in Colombo to match the tense climax witnessed in Kandy.

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Sri Lanka: S Jayasuriya (captain), M Atapattu, K Sangakkara, A de Silva, M Jayawardene, R Arnold, T Dilshan, C Vaas, M Muralitharan, K Dharmasena, N Zoysa.

England: N Hussain (captain), M Atherton, M Trescothick, G Thorpe, A Stewart, G Hick, C White, A Caddick, A Giles, R Croft, D Gough.

Umpires: B Cooray (Sri Lanka) and R Koertzen (South Africa). TV umpire: P Manuel (Sri Lanka). Match Referee: H Singh (India).