England could be saved by the Bell

Ian Bell led England's defiant bid for a draw in the first Test against Sri Lanka at Asgiriya.

The Warwickshire batsman struck his second half-century of the match, after top scoring with 83 first time around, and found a willing ally in Matt Prior as the pair spent 110 undefeated minutes batting together in the afternoon session.

England appeared to be sliding towards an inevitable defeat when they lost their fifth wicket of the day shortly after lunch but reached tea on 209 for six.

Bell's composed approach resulted in a 153-ball 50, while Prior addressed a run of poor Test scores with a gutsy effort.

The wicketkeeper took a serious blow to the helmet for his trouble - when a Dilhara Fernando bouncer hurried him on 31 - and survived a confident caught-behind appeal on 34 when he cut hard at Muttiah Muralitharan.

Having broken the world record for Test wickets on Monday in completing a six-wicket haul, Murali was viewed as the biggest danger on a tense final day but went wicketless in the opening two sessions.

The only inroad of the afternoon came via spin when debutant Ravi Bopara perished.

The 22-year-old struck 34 before being trapped leg before by left-armer Sanath Jayasuriya 10 minutes after lunch.

Essex's Bopara edged between wicketkeeper and slip off Fernando to get off the mark but played a composed innings, including a stellar over when he struck a trio of fours off Muttiah Muralitharan, thanks to a cover drive, square cut and leg glance.

But a probing over from Jayasuriya, on his final day of Test cricket, left England deeper in trouble.