England summoned up all their reserves of determination to bowl themselves back into the series against Sri Lanka just as they faced the prospect of another convincing defeat in the second Test.

Beaten by an innings in the opener at Galle, the tourists needed a magnificent late rally to prevent Sri Lanka powering towards another formidable first-innings total and securing a stranglehold on the outcome of the three-Test series.

At 277 for five with only ten overs remaining until the end of the opening day and the wicket showing signs of turn to encourage the prolific Muttiah Muralitharan, England's hopes looked bleak to say the least, particularly after losing their chance at 80 for four before lunch when Russel Arnold was dropped by Marcus Trescothick before he had scored.

The decision to take the new ball, though, altered the outcome of the day and may have provided the turning point of the series, with Andrew Caddick and Darren Gough running in and prompting the loss of five Sri Lankan wickets for 20 runs in 35 balls.

It was an effort every bit as impressive as their destruction of the West Indies at Lord's and Headingley last summer, given that this time the pitch had offered little in the way of assistance once the shine had gone off the new ball.

''We had a chat at tea and we were told not to let our heads drop, hit the straps and get stuck in - one session can change the whole game and thankfully that's what happened,'' explained Caddick, who finished with four for 55 after failing to take a wicket in the opening Test.

In fact the last session mirrored the start to the match, when Sri Lanka chose to bat after Nasser Hussain lost his ninth toss out of the last ten and were reduced to 80 for four, with England's seam trio exploiting the extra pace and bounce offered by the Asgiriya Stadium.

Both openers fell attempting adventurous shots before Craig White was called into the attack and dismissed the dangerous Kumar Sangakkara and Aravinda de Silva in the space of 15 deliveries.

The pair had added 40 in only six overs until yet another umpiring misjudgement - this time in England's favour - broke the stand with Sangakkara given out by South African Rudi Koertzen after a short delivery from White deflected off his arm-guard to Trescothick at gully.

De Silva was guilty of a more obvious dismissal, mistiming a hook high in the air and giving White a simple return catch, and with lunch fast approaching, England sensed their time was now.

Instead, when Arnold swished outside off stump straight to Trescothick in the gully, the chance was missed and gave Sri Lanka the opportunity to launch a devastating counter-attack.

Arnold and Jayawardene hammered 46 runs in only 30 minutes immediately after the interval and threatened to quickly take the game away from the tourists, such was the pace of their scoring rate having scored 123 runs between lunch and tea.

''When we had them at 80 for four I thought we might be able to roll them out for 250, but they have some pretty good players in Arnold and Jayawardene and he was in, playing some excellent shots,'' admitted Caddick.

''I thought 250 would have been a good score to get them out for, but it will all depend on how we bat tomorrow against the new ball. If we do well and don't lose any wickets in the morning then we've done a good job.''

Together they added 141 in only 41 overs, although Jayawardene was fortunate to reach three figures after being stumped by Alec Stewart off Ashley Giles on 94 only for BC Cooray to rule not out without referring to television replays.

His century was well deserved, though, and included a six and 12 other boundaries before he also became carried away and pulled Caddick straight to Graham Thorpe at mid-wicket.

Arnold was also fortunate, reaching 44 when he appeared to edge Caddick to Michael Atherton at slip, but after referral to TV umpire Peter Manual, the replays proved inconclusive.

He finally fell with the first delivery from the new ball, slashing Gough straight to White in the gully to set off the late collapse which may give England a route back into the series.

Gough and Caddick claimed a further two wickets apiece to wrap up Sri Lanka's innings for 297, which included an incredible 47 boundaries.

And although Atherton survived three appeals for leg before from Chaminda Vaas in the two overs remaining before the close, England survived to reach one without loss.

l Former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga was yesterday arrested following an alleged assault on high school students who had hit a cricket ball into the grounds of his family home. Ranatunga surrendered to police in Kenya after a charity match and was later given bail