Deep into Sri Lanka's hinterland, in a town famous for its red rice and feted for its fiery fish curries, England enjoyed a day of mixed fortunes in their final practice game before the First Test Match in Galle.

Having won the toss the England fast bowlers reduced a Sri Lankan board President's XI to 24 for four on a clammy and unevenly grassed wicket. England's rosy start, however, was overshadowed by an injury scare to their premier spinner and then tarnished by a bold fightback from a schoolboy making his first-class debut and a left-arm spinner with only one first-class fifty to his name prior to this match.

The President's XI were finally bowled out for 253. The true value of such a score is difficult to ascertain, but it is surely not far from par, especially with the abrasive surface likely to assist Sri Lanka's trio of twirly men.

However, the day's cricket at Matara Sports Club was dominated by the news that Ashley Giles has sustained an injury just seven days away from the Galle Test. He bowled five overs for 23 runs in the morning before leaving the field to receive treatment for stiffness in his left Achilles tendon.

Although England will be heartened to hear that the injury is not the same one that forced him to withdraw from the ICC Knockout in Kenya, the prospect of going into the First Test with just Robert Croft, who has conceded four runs per over throughout the tour, and Jason Brown, who has yet to play a game in Sri Lanka, is not an enticing one.

Giles took 17 wickets in three Test Matches in Pakistan and was a crucial component in the team's success. In Sri Lanka, he has continued where he left off in Karachi and as Duncan Fletcher said tonight: "He is a top spin bowler and we saw him as a kingpin in our attack in Sri Lanka."

The true extent of the injury is as yet unknown and Fletcher refused to be panicked by the news: "It's an injury that has been with him for some time and he has successfully had injections for it in the past. We will have to monitor it over the next couple of days and take it from there."

Fletcher ruled out calling a replacement at this stage: "A lot of people may like us to rush into this and start panicking but we want to look at this quite calmly and reassess the situation tomorrow." Phil Tufnell and Chris Schofield are officially on standby for the tour.

With the benefit of hindsight the management may well be ruing their decision to not play off spinner Brown in this match today. They had a prime opportunity to do so when Graeme Hick pulled out with a slight calf strain, but opted instead for Craig White. Hick's calf strain worsened overnight, but he could have played if necessary and is expected to be fit for the Test Match.

The absence of Giles today undoubtedly assisted the Sri Lankans as they repaired the early-morning damage inflicted by impressive opening spells from both Matthew Hoggard and Andrew Caddick. Both bowlers moved the ball in the air and continued to do so off the pitch as the day progressed.

Caddick had Avishka Gunawardene caught at third slip as the bleary-eyed left-hander, who has endured a gruelling 48 hours having just returned from New Zealand with the national squad, wafted at a short delivery.

Hoggard then clean bowled Ruwin Peiris for six and had schoolboy Sunendra Kumara caught at the wicket for two in his next over. White struck three balls later with his very first delivery to remove the in-form Tillakaratne Dilshan, who has been asked to captain and keep wicket in this game.

Hashan Tillakaratne, still in with a chance of selection in the Test side, and Jevantha Kalutunga, a free-flowing right-hander who has scored heavily in domestic cricket this year, survived until lunch and added 60 runs for the fifth wicket.

Hoggard returned straight after the luncheon interval and soon had the ball smacking head high into Alec Stewart's gloves. He cut short Tillakaratne's gritty innings thanks to a diving catch in the gully by Craig White. Kalatunga was joined at the crease by Muthumudalige Pushpakumara and the pair added 38 runs before Kalatunga was caught at mid off for 54 from 96 balls to leave the President's XI on 122 for six.

England would have had high hopes of wrapping up the innings but the young Pushpakumara, who was making his first-class debut, and Niroshan Banadaratillake, who is likely to play in the Test match as Sri Lanka's second spinner, frustrated the English bowlers with an entertaining 92-run partnership.

The left-handed Pushpakumara first showed his class with a breezy fifty in England's first two-day practice game in Colombo. He continued in the same positive vein today and dealt with the spin of Croft and Vaughan with particular authority.

When Pushpakumara was caught at long off for 52 by Graham Thorpe to become the first of three wickets for Robert Croft, Banadaratillake threw caution to the wind and launched the Glamorgan off spinner for two sixes as he raced to 73 from just 90 deliveries.

Matthew Hoggard had dropped a relatively simple catch off Banadaratillake when the bowler had made just 35, but made amends with a brilliant one-handed effort right on the edge of boundary to dismiss the right-hander. Croft and White then quickly wrapped up the innings and England survived the remaining nine overs of the day without alarm.

© CricInfo