England coach Duncan Fletcher has defended the cautious selection policy for the second Test at the Asgiriya Stadium, claiming it was the best combination to win.

The tourists' line-up included some surprise choices, not least of which was to go in with only four frontline bowlers, supported by part-timers Paul Collingwood and Michael Vaughan.

Having expressed concern about Andrew Flintoff's workload following the recent groin injury which kept the Lancashire all-rounder out of the Test series in Bangladesh, the decision to ask him to share new-ball duties as one of only two fast bowlers was just as curious.

James Anderson was expected to bolster the team that drew valiantly in the series opener following injury but it was James Kirtley, the Sussex paceman who only stayed out here as cover when the former twisted his ankle playing squash, that opened up after Vaughan lost his seventh toss in eight matches as captain.

Kirtley finished with two wickets - as many as Richard Johnson and Matthew Hoggard managed between them in four bursts with the new ball in the draw at Galle - as Sri Lanka closed on 277 for seven.

''A lot of discussions took place about selection and we just felt after looking at the wicket that the fifth bowler would not be used much, as was the case last week,'' said Fletcher. ''The two spinners did most of the bowling there and we thought if we weren't going to use the fifth bowler much Colly could do the job."

''Anderson didn't have enough mileage in his legs, so in the end it was between Hoggard and Kirtley.

''We thought that Hoggard was used to bowling on bouncy wickets at Headingley and it has been proven when he gets on to flat wickets he does struggle a bit when it's not swinging, while Kirtley has bowled numerous overs on slow, low wickets like this at Hove, so he was the best option."

The four-pronged attack stuck to their task with Ashley Giles, as he did at Galle, offering the greatest threat despite coming into the match with flu symptoms.

England were left to rue the luck that has seen Sri Lanka win the last five tosses between the sides on this island. And Vaughan endured ill fortune at both ends of the day, in fact, as he turned his ankle attempting a stop off his own bowling and left the field a quarter of an hour before the close.

Kirtley's ability to skid deliveries on to the batsman from a low trajectory caused problems both early on and again when the new ball was taken in the early evening, gaining a leg before decision in each spell.

A ball of full length pinned Marvan Atapattu in front of middle stump in the seventh over of the morning, while swing defeated Chaminda Vaas' prod late on.

That dismissal halted a stand with Sri Lanka captain Hashan Tillekeratne and two quick wickets after tea reduced them to 206 for six.

Kirtley had a hand in three of the first four dismissals.

He ran out the in-form Kumar Sangakkara, sacrificed in a mix-up with Sanath Jayasuriya, and caught Mahela Jayawardene at full length, diving forward from fine leg off left-arm spinner Giles moments before tea.

Giles had gained an initial success with the final delivery before lunch when Jayasuriya was adjudged caught behind by a juggling Chris Read after the ball popped up off the wicketkeeper's gloves via a deflection off the left-handed batsman's thigh pad.

Then, after a Flintoff bouncer ended Tillekeratne Dilshan's half-century, Thilan Samaraweera was given leg before offering no shot to a ball which appeared on its way past leg stump.