Dilshan leads Sri Lanka fightback

The tallest pace attack in Test history came up short for England as Sri Lanka's openers batted their team back into contention with a record double-century stand at Lord's.

Captain Tillakaratne Dilshan (127no) and Tharanga Paranavitana (65) put on 207, their team's highest first-wicket partnership against England, as the tourists responded to 486 with 231 for one on day two of this second npower Test.

After Matt Prior (126) had completed his fifth Test century, the pressure was on Sri Lanka to put their Cardiff collapse behind them with a competitive total. Dilshan and Paranavitana therefore needed to shut out the 6ft 6in-plus pace trio of Stuart Broad, Chris Tremlett and Steven Finn - and did so admirably.

The attacking right-hand and stoic left-hand pairing complemented one another ideally, Dilshan scoring more than twice as quickly as his sheet-anchor colleague.

Dilshan led from the front with 12 fours and two sixes, with Paranavitana unhurriedly blunting England's best efforts at the other end.

The latter eventually fell late in the day, edging a drive at Finn to Andrew Strauss at slip.

Earlier, Prior and Broad (54) had upped the ante on another glorious morning, turning their overnight stand of 40 into 108 in under nine overs.

Thanks to Prior and Broad - and Alastair Cook, Ian Bell and Eoin Morgan before them - their eventual total represented a fine outcome for a team who had lurched to 22 for three on Friday morning.