Giles kept his cool in the tense last session to score an unbeaten 17 off 111 balls as England, chasing a 323-run target, finished at 210-9 in their second innings when bad light stopped play on the fifth and final day.

Ace off-spinner Muralitharan had boosted Sri Lanka's victory hopes on a turning track with a four-wicket haul before being thwarted by Giles, who continued to bat steadily despite as many as five fielders close to the bat.

England never made an earnest attempt to achieve the victory target as they batted only for survival. They faced defeat at 171-7 at tea before finding a saviour in Giles.

Giles received valuable support from fellow-tailender Gareth Batty, who compiled a defiant 26 under pressure in only his second Test before being bowled by Murali-tharan attempting a wild heave.

Tension kept mounting and light meters were constantly out as there were still more than 15 overs remaining in the match after Batty's dismissal.

England were pushed closer to defeat when Richard Johnson inner-edged a Muralitharan delivery on to his stumps to become the spinner's 11th victim in the match, the 12th time the bowler had bagged 10 or more wickets in a Test.

Sri Lankan skipper Hashan Tillakaratne took the second new ball in fading light at 190-7 in a last-ditch effort to grab the remaining three wickets, summoning spinners Kumar Dharmasena and Muralitharan to open the attack.

Muralitharan could grab only two in the last session as there was no dislodging Giles, who batted sensibly in testing conditions to save his team.

Giles' match-saving innings also put in shade useful contributions from left-handed Mark Butcher (54) and debutant Paul Collingwood (36).

Butcher looked solid during his second successive half-century as he hit six fours and a six in his 169-minute knock and added 52 for the fourth wicket with Collingwood.