England Lions 324 and 47 for 2 need 75 more runs to beat Sri Lanka 139 and 306 (Madushka 77, Dhananjaya 66, Mathews 51)
Nishan Madushka, Angelo Mathews and captain Dhananjaya de Silva found form with half-centuries but Sri Lanka are facing a defeat to an inexperienced England Lions team at New Road.
Trailing by 185 runs on first innings, Sri Lanka were bowled out in 87.1 overs on the third day of their tour match in Worcester. After Dimuth Karunaratne top-scored with just 26 on the opening day, Madushka, Mathews and Dhananjaya registered Sri Lanka's first three half-centuries of the tour as they racked up a total of 306.
But that left the Lions a target of just 122 to win, and they made a dent into the requirement on the third evening. Ben McKinney, the Durham opener, made 20 off nine balls - hitting three fours and a six - and the Lions need only 75 more runs for victory heading into the fourth day, with eight wickets in hand.
Offspinner Farhan Ahmed, the 16-year-old younger brother of England legspinner Rehan, was the most successful bowler for the Lions, taking 3 for 87 from his 29 overs and dismissing Madushka, Mathews and Sadeera Samarawickrama, who made 25. Seamers Josh Hull, Zaman Akhter and Lyndon James took two wickets apiece.
Dhananjaya took two wickets in two balls in the third over of the Lions' run chase, knocking back McKinney's leg stump and having Ollie Price caught at slip on the reverse-sweep. But the Warwickshire pair Rob Yates and Hamza Shaikh saw the Lions through to the close, and will have the opportunity to take them home on Saturday morning.
The tour match is Sri Lanka's only match practice before the first of three Tests against England starts in Manchester on Wednesday. This is their first Test tour to England since they lost a three-match series 2-0 in 2016.
