It was wonderfully appropriate that Muttiah Muralitharan should have regained the Test wicket record in his home city yesterday. The joy was unconfined, on the field and off it, when he bowled Paul Collingwood with an off break with the new ball 40 minutes before lunch. Whether he will be a match-winner yet again, however, is unpredictable.

Muralitharan has reached the summit again in the context of a classic Test, one that was still in the balance when the third day ended with Sri Lanka two second-innings wickets down but 74 runs ahead. His six for 55 and a dashing final Test innings by Sanath Jayasuriya had given Sri Lanka an edge, but England’s first-innings lead of 93 went a long way towards nullifying the disadvantage of having to bat last.

There was no sign of any serious deterioration in a cracked pitch, partly because of the rain the previous evening. It was docility itself, apart from some turn from the rough as Jayasuriya marked his final Test with a characteristic innings full of trademark short-armed cuts, pulls and lofted drives, including six fours in a relatively blameless over by James Anderson. Having added one more note to the record books — this was only the third six-ball over to be hit for six fours in a Test — Jayasuriya confirmed his retirement from Tests, news broken in The Times before the game.

Its outcome will probably hinge on Monty Panesar’s ability to spin the ball with the same kind of potency as Muralitharan. He looked more dangerous in his early overs in Sri Lanka’s second innings, bowling a little too quickly later, in his effort to ignite quicker turn off a surface that had frustrated even Muralitharan with an old ball in the morning.

Nevertheless, it was the fact that Panesar briefly had Jayasuriya in trouble early in his first spell of 17 overs that prompted the little butcher to start carving Anderson in the next over. In six staccato blows — two drives over mid-off, two cuts, a pull and a slice through Ian Bell’s fingers at slip — he went from 31 to 55.

It was Matthew Hoggard’s off cutters that came to England’s rescue after Jayasuriya and the tall, correct Michael Vandort had put together Sri Lanka’s highest opening partnership against England. Having been lucky to escape one appeal for leg-before, missing a risky pull at a ball that pitched on his stumps, Jayasuriya was out to a cutter that just about pitched on the leg stump soon after.

Vandort had batted for more than 3½ hours when he chased a deliberately wide ball from Anderson and was caught by Bell at a wideish slip, diving to his left. But Kumar Sangakkara again batted with cool mastery until the close, leaving England to dwell on the dangers of batting fourth against Muralitharan. But they had no cause to reproach themselves during a memorable day’s cricket.

Excelling himself as a batsman in company with the ice-cool Collingwood, Ryan Sidebottom made his highest Test score of 31 in a precious partnership of 57 in 22 overs at the start of the day before edging Lasith Malinga to Prasanna Jayawardena, who took a fine low catch, in the third over with the new ball. Jayawardena franked his brilliance as a wicketkeeper by stumping Hoggard down the leg side before Chaminda Vaas rounded off the innings as he had started it, trapping a left-hander leg-before.

Panesar had bowled 18 overs without a breakthrough by the time bad light stopped play 15 minutes early, but he needs to get at the middle and late order soon today to dominate as Muralitharan did once he got the second new ball in his grasp yesterday.

Somehow England will have to be more positive against him — the best policy, as the Australians have proved. Kevin Pietersen has the best chance of doing so, despite a minor crack to the little finger of his right hand, sustained in the field on Saturday, which prevented him from fielding yesterday. He will be able to bat in his normal position.