England heading for defeat

England look to be heading for defeat on day four of the first Test against Sri Lanka, despite the best efforts of centurion Jonathan Trott.

Trott made a gutsy 112, his seventh Test century, to give England a chance of reeling in an imposing target of 340 - eight more than their previous best chase in 1928.

But aside from Matt Prior's 41, there was not enough support and when Trott was seventh out England's chances had all but gone as they went into tea on 259 for eight, with 81 still required.

Kevin Pietersen looked troubled from the off and had added just a single to his overnight score of 29 when he fell in the third over. His shot was a grim reprise of Andrew Strauss' dismissal on Wednesday, down the track and hitting a turning ball straight to mid-wicket, where Mahela Jayawardene held on.

Trott, meanwhile, produced a neat reverse sweep to bring up his fifty but after Trott was dropped, England's luck did not hold, with Rangana Herath winning an lbw verdict against Ian Bell (13) with the score at 152.

Trott brought up his century by sweeping Herath for four, ending a sequence of 18 singles and celebrating lavishly in front of the Barmy Army stronghold on the Galle Fort.

Four balls later it was the home fans celebrating as Prior fell for 41, sweeping Herath hard towards short-leg, where Lahiru Thirimanne clung on after absorbing the impact with his body.

Samit Patel then fell for nine, clearing his front foot and picking out Tillakaratne Dilshan at short extra-cover.

He juggled the chance initially, only to snare the ball one-handed at the second attempt and hand Herath his second five-wicket haul of the match.

England's prospects were firmly on Trott's shoulders now but he was gone in the next over, turning Suraj Randiv to Dilshan at leg-slip and Graeme Swann lasted only nine balls before the now inevitable Herath lbw arrived.