England bowlers unable to rest up yet again

After being dismissed for 193 on day two of the first Test in Sri Lanka, England have now been bowled out for less than 200 five times in seven innings in 2012.

That has hamstrung the bowlers, who performed admirably in the 3-0 series defeat against Pakistan and have given England a chance in Galle.

They kept Sri Lanka to 318 in sweltering conditions in the first innings, before Graeme Swann led the way to reduce the hosts to 84-5 at stumps.

Bell, who top-scored with 52 for England here but struggled badly against Pakistan, accepts it is not good enough.

“It’s a real shame and it’s not through lack of effort but it’s disappointing not to back up our bowlers,” said Bell.

“We definitely let them down, no doubt. The bowlers will know it’s not through a lack of preparation, sometimes it just happens like that.

“Our bowlers have been outstanding again for the fourth Test this winter.

“What we wanted to do was to give those bowlers a good rest, a bit like we did in Australia (in the 2010-11 Ashes).

“If you give them a day and a half relaxing they’re going to come out (hard) again. In a way we let them down not to give them that time.”

Bell also confronted England’s continuing issues with playing slow bowlers in turning conditions.

Having been bamboozled by Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman in the United Arab Emirates, the tourists lost eight wickets to Sri Lankan spin – six to Rangana Herath and two to Suraj Randiv.

Bell was in a party that arrived in Sri Lanka ahead of the main group to work on his technique, but he acknowledges more hard work is needed.

Home captain Mahela Jayawardene, who dwarfed the efforts of every other batsman in this match with his first-innings 180, expects England’s chase to be a tough one.

His side will resume 209 ahead with five wickets in hand and he does not believe too many more runs are needed to make life hard for their opponents.

“Hopefully we can get a few more on the board and have a good crack at it,” he said.

“If we get another 50 to 80 runs ahead that would be good – anything more is a bonus.”

Jayawardene had special praise for Herath, who has taken to the unenviable task of replacing Muttiah Muralitharan. “Rangana showed he has the experience now and he has the responsibility to lead a young attack,” he said.

Sri Lanka resumed their innings on 289-8, adding 29 for their last two wickets.

Both went to James Anderson, who recovered from a first over that contained four boundaries to claim his 12th Test five-for.

Chanaka Welegedera was undone by a sumptuous slower ball before Anderson added the prize scalp of Mahela Jayawardene for a memorable 180.

England were looking for a big total in response but lost the man most likely to bat for time when Alastair Cook was lbw for nought.

Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott put on a brisk 40 against the seamers but the latter donated his wicket in baffling fashion, stumped after letting a full toss disappear between bat and pad.

He then collided with wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene and collapsed dramatically before departing in a daze.

Strauss was gone for 26 just 13 balls later, given lbw on review attempting a pre-meditated sweep against Herath.

Bell seemed comfortable from the off and Kevin Pietersen also attempted to be positive, but his flashy drive at Welegedera – from his first ball of the session – diverted the ball into his stumps.

England’s woes continued as Matt Prior, promoted to No 6, lasted just seven deliveries before becoming Herath’s third victim.

A score of 72-5 was not the ideal scenario for a debut Test innings and Samit Patel mustered just two singles before he mimicked Prior’s dismissal, lbw on the back foot against Herath.

With Bell scoring steadily at the other end, Stuart Broad set the tone for England’s tail-end counter-attack, unleashing five fours and a mighty pulled six to reach 28 before another botched sweep handed Herath his fifth wicket.

Swann followed Broad’s lead, scoring all of his 24 runs in boundaries before Tillakaratne Dilshan’s reaction catch at short mid-wicket handed Randiv a first success.

Bell had 52 when he was ninth man out – the sixth to Herath – losing his off stump to one that pitched on middle and leg.

Anderson (23no) and Monty Panesar (13) added a breezy 36 for the last wicket, further showing up the specialist batsmen, before the latter was leg before to Randiv.

England’s bowlers must have dreaded another lengthy stint after such a brief rest but Broad needed just three balls to spear one through Dilshan’s defences without scoring.

Swann was also up for the challenge.

Having taken 0-92 on day one, he roared back to form with two wickets in his first seven balls.

Lahiru Thirimanne was bowled when Swann turned one away from the left-hander and the crucial wicket of Jayawardene followed, held by Anderson at slip for five.

Sri Lanka were 14-3 at that point, with the momentum shifting again.

Thilan Samaraweera and Kumar Sangakkara halted the charge for 10 overs before Swann located Sangakkara’s edge to make it 41-4.

With the close approaching Samaraweera was stumped for 36 as he charged Swann only to be beaten on the outside edge.