Jamie Smith’s dashing 67 revived England after they suffered a dramatic collapse in the third Test against Sri Lanka at the Oval on Sunday. England were in the dire position of 66-4 in their second innings on the third day when the wicketkeeper came in to bat on his Surrey home ground. At tea, they had recovered to 140-8 following Smith’s third fifty in six Tests since the 24-year-old made his England debut in July.

That left England, already 2-0 up in this three-match series, with an overall lead of 202 and hope of a first home Test clean sweep since 2004 after routing the West Indies 3-0 earlier in the season. Smith, however, fell on the stroke of tea when he chipped Vishwa Fernando to short midwicket to end a superb 50-ball innings featuring 10 fours and a six that was a testament both to his game management and his orthodox stroke-play.