Sri Lanka, trailing England by 185 runs on the first innings, were 6-218 in their second knock at stumps on the fourth day of the second Test in Colombo on Friday.

Skipper Mahela Jayawardene was unbeaten on 55 and Angelo Mathews was on three, with Sri Lanka 33 runs ahead with four wickets in hand on a wearing P Sara Oval pitch.

Offspinner Graeme Swann claimed 4-82 including the prized scalps of Tillakaratne Dilshan for 35 and Kumar Sangakkara for 21.

England, who lost the first Test in Galle, need a win to level the two-match series and retain their No.1 ranking.

Dilshan was unfortunate to depart, caught in the slips off Swann, as TV replays proved inconclusive whether the ball had gone off the bat.

Third umpire Rod Tucker reviewed Dilshan’s challenge for more than five minutes before upholding on-field official Bruce Oxenford’s decision to give the batsman out.

He walked off clearly unhappy with the decision.

Sri Lankan coach Graham Ford immediately went up to match referee Javagal Srinath to ask why benefit of doubt had not been given to the batsman, as is the norm in cricket.

The infra-red Hot Spot technology, which could have determined an edge, is not being used for the series.

Dilshan has gone 21 innings without a Test century since making 193 against England at Lord’s in June last year.

Later in the same over, Swann appealed for lbw against Sangakkara, which Oxenford turned down. This time it was England’s turn to lose the review even though the ball would’ve clipped the off bail.

But Sangakkara did not last long as he edged Swann to wicketkeeper Matt Prior, with Sri Lanka still 61 runs in arrears.

The left-hander, who had been dismissed first ball in two of his three previous innings, finished the series with a dismal average of 8.75.

Earlier in the day, Dilshan was fined 10 per cent of his match fee for over-the-top appealing during the Test.

Bowling during England’s first innings on Thursday, Dilshan charged towards the striker’s end celebrating a dismissal even before the decision had been given, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Friday.

When he reached the other end, Dilshan turned around and appealed repeatedly, according to the charge laid by on-field umpires Oxenford and Asad Rauf and TV umpire Tucker.

Match referee Srinath said in a statement that Dilshan accepted that he had violated the ICC’s code of conduct.

Dilshan is expected to be fined around $US500.