England ripped through the Sri Lankan lower order to bowl the tourists out for 257 and close day one of the second Test at Headingley 221 runs behind.
Stuart Broad took the second Test hat-trick of his career, while Liam Plunkett recorded career-best figures of 5-64 after Alastair Cook won the toss and inserted.
The Lions were recovering well from 108-4, with Kumar Sangakkara sharing fifty partnerships with Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal, but four wickets in nine balls for one run saw them collapse to 229-9.
Sangakkara made a sixth consecutive Test match half-century before Mathews was caught at third slip by Gary Ballance off the bowling of James Anderson for a breezy 26 to leave Sri Lanka 161-5.
The 36-year-old was snaffled well at gully by Ian Bell, playing in his 100th Test, for 79 to become the first of Broad's victims, and the paceman had Chandimal (45) and Shaminda Eranga caught behind to complete the hat-trick and become the first Englishman to take two in Test matches.
In between Broad overs, Plunkett, who had earlier dismissed Mahela Jayawardene and Lahiru Thirimanne in successive balls and broke a decent opening stand by bowling Dimuth Karunaratne for 28, forced Dhammika Prasad to fend one to Matt Prior.
Rangana Herath and Nuwan Pradeep added 28 for the last wicket before the same combination accounted for the number 11, securing Plunkett his maiden international five-wicket haul.
England had one hour to survive in the evening session, and Cook had an early reprieve when his edge fell just short of Sangakkara, but the home skipper and Sam Robson safely made it to stumps at 36-0.
