Chester-Le-Street: Sri Lanka was facing another innings loss and a hefty series defeat as it slumped to 91-8 at stumps in the second test on Saturday after England declared on 498-9, with Moeen Ali thumping a career-best 155 not out.
Ali put England in a commanding position on the second day with his second test century. Chris Woakes then claimed 3-9 on his recall to the England side, sparking another capitulation from Sri Lanka. The tourists were bowled out for 91 and 119 when England won the first test by an innings and 88 runs.
Woakes' fellow seamer Stuart Broad had 3-35 at the Riverside Ground and England had a chance of another victory inside three days, following its one-sided win in the series opener at Headingley.
Sri Lanka will start the third day still 407 runs behind with just two first-innings wickets in hand. Kusal Mendis made 35 and Lahiru Thirimanne was 12 not out, but there was little resistance from Sri Lanka, whose inexperienced batting lineup was expected to struggle - though not this much - in the three-match series.
Batting at No. 7, Ali hit 17 fours and two sixes and moved England toward 500 before the declaration came. England's lower order added 188 on the second day after the home team was 310-6 overnight. Most of those late runs came from left-handed allrounder Ali, who was the driving force in partnerships of 92 with Woakes (39) and 72 with Steven Finn, who only contributed 10 of those runs.
James Anderson (2-31) bowled Dimuth Karunaratne in the third over to begin Sri Lanka's collapse. Woakes, in the team as a replacement for the injured Ben Stokes, removed top-scorer Mendis, captain Angelo Mathews and Milinda Siriwardana and was on course for his best test bowling figures.
