England vs Sri Lanka, 3rd Test Day 4 LIVE Score & Updates: Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the 4th day’s play of the ongoing third Test which is taking place between England and Sri Lanka at The Oval in London.
Pathum Nissanka’s superb unbeaten fifty left Sri Lanka eyeing a memorable win over England as the third Test at the Oval headed for a dramatic finish.
Sri Lanka were 94-1 when bad light led to an early close on Sunday’s third day, needing a further 125 runs to reach a victory target of 219 that would end a run of seven successive Test defeats by England.
Dimuth Karunaratne was caught and bowled by Chris Woakes for eight when a drive ballooned off his pad.
But fellow opener Nissanka, who made 64 in Sri Lanka’s first innings, was 53 not out having gone to his second fifty of the match in style when he blazed debutant left-arm quick Josh Hull through the covers for a seventh four in 42 balls faced.
The recalled Kusal Mendis, meanwhile, pounced on numerous loose deliveries during an unbeaten 30 featuring 24 runs in boundaries.
That Sri Lanka were chasing a target in excess of 200 was mainly down to Jamie Smith’s superb counter-attacking 67 that rescued England from a dramatic collapse.
England, already 2-0 up in this three-match series, lost five wickets for 26 runs in slumping to 82-7 before wicketkeeper Smith’s dashing display on his Surrey home ground helped them recover to 156 all out.
Playing XIs
England: Daniel Lawrence, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (C), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith (WK), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Olly Stone, Josh Hull, Shoaib Bashir
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal (WK), Dhananjaya de Silva (C), Kamindu Mendis, Milan Priyanath Rathnayake, Lahiru Kumara, Vishwa Fernando, Asitha Fernando
