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After two frustrating draws at Galle and Kandy, Sri Lanka captain Hashan Tillakaratne is hopeful that the SSC pitch will provide an opportunity for his team to break the deadlock and record a win in the third and final cricket Test starting today.

"We are the team that has played the better cricket in the series so far. It is just that we are so unfortunate and we couldn't finish the game at Galle and Kandy. Everyone is keen and confident and we want to be victorious," said Tillakaratne.

"In the last two Tests, England has played the negative cricket. In kandy, they were not reading Murali (Mualitharan), but simply blocking him. A target of 368 was getable in 140 overs if they were not so negative in their approach," he said. Tilakaratne said that unlike in the past, the pitches at Galle and Kandy did not help his spinners.

"In this series all the wickets are helping the batsmen. Usually the wicket starts to help our spinners by the third day, it wasn't the case this time. "The weather was rude to us in Galle. In Kandy the wicket didn't turn out to be as bad as we would have expected it to be on the fourth and fifth days. I thought it would definitely help our spinners, but it wasn't the case. Our bowlers couldn't spin the ball at all with the exception of Murali," said Tillakaratne.

He described the SSC pitch as 'the best batting track in Sri Lanka', much better than at Galle and in Kandy. He said that he was hoping to bat first should he win the toss and expect a total in excess of 400. "It certainly looks a good batting track, but as usual it will definitely help the seamers. It will be a disappointment if this Test also ends in a draw," he said.

For the past five to six months no matches of any lengthy duration have been played at the SSC, as the ground was under repair. Sri Lanka Cricket advisor on pitches, Anuruddha Polonowita said the pitch will be hard and bouncy and would assist spin from the third or fourth day onwards.

Tillakaratne said that he was not under any pressure to win, but added: "We want to do our level best. We are not bothered about the result as long as we play good cricket I am sure we can beat England".

If there was any concern it was the Sri Lanka top order batting where players in the calibre of vice captain Marvan Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya have not utilized their vast experience to the full. It is high time that these two players with a combined experience of 149 Tests and 9080 runs started to get some runs behind them.

They could take a cue from Tillakaratne Dilshan who showed the rest of the batting line up how to tackle the England bowling by use of the feet. Dilshan was a revelation at Kandy top scoring in both innings with 63 and 100.

"We have been discussing of batsmen getting out in the 30s and 40s and failing to convert it into big scores. I am sure they are experienced enough to come out of it and play a long innings," said Tillakaratne.

Sri Lanka is expected to make two changes to the side that drew at Kandy. Leg-spinner Upul Chandana and fast bowler Dilhara Fernando are likely to replace Kumar Dharmasena and Dinusha Fernando.

England captain Michael Vaughan said the huge confidence his team will take into the SSC Test was that all the players had spent some time in the middle against Muralitharan. "It takes a little bit of time to get used to his new delivery. What we are used to is that Murali is a big off-spinner. It is always difficult and it is always a challenge facing him," said Vaughan.

"Sri Lanka will come back in this game. As we have shown in the series we are ready to play them and made sure we can put them under a little bit of pressure. Going into the last game at nil-nil there is an opportunity to try and put them under pressure. The team that can play and withstand the pressure over the next five days will win. They are definitely a team that can fold," he said.

So far in the series Sri Lanka have been calling the shots by batting first after winning the toss on both occasions.

Vaughan said that England are faced with few hard decisions to make before the Test. They will have to decide whether to play an extra bowler or stick with experience. Fast bowler James Anderson who has yet to play in a Test is being spoken of highly.

There is also James Kirtley, Mathew Hoggard and Richard Johnson to pick from. England will also have to decide whether to leave out the experienced Nasser Hussain or the inform Paul Collingwood to make way for the extra bowler. England has put off naming their final eleven until the morning of the Test.

"Hussain is playing okay but probably needs time in the middle. Before the last game I needed time in the middle and I got a lot of runs in the game. So you are just one knock away from a hundred. He obviously missed the first game through illness," said Vaughan. The former England captain was out for 10 and 17 at Kandy.

Match Referee: Clive Lloyed (West Indies). 

LEADING RUN SCORERS & WICKET-TAKERS

BATTING

SRI LANKA
		Runs	Inns	HS	Avg
Jayawardene	200	4	86*	66.66
Dilshan		163	2	100	81.50
Sangakkara	134	4	71	33.50
Jayasuriya		124	4	48	31.00

ENGLAND
		Runs	Inns	HS	Avg
Vaughan		189	4	105	47.25
Thorpe		151	4	57	37.75
Butcher		115	4	54	28.75
Batty		103	4	38	34.33

BOWLING

SRI LANKA
		Wkts	Avg.	Balls	St/Rt
Muralitharan	19	11.42	988	52.0
Vaas		9	20.44	476	52.8

ENGLAND
		Wkts	Avg.	Balls	St/Rt
Giles		16	21.81	795	49.6
Flintoff		7	24.85	474	67.7
Batty		6	43.16	500	63.3