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England v Sri Lanka: Tourists hang on to draw thrilling first Test

By Sam SheringhamBBC Sport at Lord's

Last updated on .From the section Cricketcomments372

England's slips hold their hands to their heads
Only two of the past 11 Tests at Lord's have been drawn
First Test, day five, Lord's
England (575-9 dec & 267-8 dec) drew with Sri Lanka (453 & 201-9)
Scorecard

England were denied victory in an incredible finale to the first Test as Sri Lanka's last-wicket pair batted out the final five balls to cling on for a draw at Lord's.

In scenes of barely believable drama, umpire Paul Reiffel gave Nuwan Pradeep out lbw to apparently hand England victory off the penultimate ball.

But Sri Lanka used the decision review system to reveal an inside edge, and when an outside edge off the last ball landed inches short of second slip, the tourists had survived.

The result means the teams will head to the second and final Test at Headingley, starting on Friday, with the series all square.

The match appeared to be drifting towards a stalemate when Sri Lanka, chasing a notional 390 for victory, were 164-3 at tea.

But an amazing final session, in which six wickets fell for 37 runs in fading light, saw England to the cusp of a victory that would have banished the memories of their disastrous 5-0 Ashes whitewash in Australia.

James Anderson finished with figures of 4-25 off 19 overs, Broad 3-43 and Chris Jordan 2-34 to complete a hugely encouraging debut.

Anderson swung the match either side of tea with three wickets, including the prize scalps of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, in a devastating spell to reduce Sri Lanka to 170-5 with 31 overs remaining.

Jayawardene was caught behind for 18 in the over before the interval before Sangakkara, with fielders crowded round the bat as captain Alastair Cook went all-out attack, chopped on to his stumps for 61.

Four balls later, Lahiru Thirimanne prodded tentatively at a reverse-swinger and edged to Matt Prior to leave Sri Lanka five wickets down.

Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews and Prasanna Jayawardene - batting with a broken finger - appeared to take the sting out of the tourists with a partnership that spanned 20 overs.

The door was forced back open by the irrepressible Jordan, who trapped Jayawardene lbw to leave Sri Lanka six down.

England took the second new ball and the mayhem continued. Broad found Nuwan Kulasekara's pads, then Anderson drew an edge from Mathews that flew to slip with 18 balls left.

Sri Lanka's ninth-wicket pair rode out the next two overs, but Broad had Rangana Herath taken down the leg side with the first ball of the last over.

Four deliveries later, as Reiffel's finger went up, England were jumping around in elation, but when DRS revealed a thick inside edge, the joy was all Sri Lanka's.

The drama of the final session contrasted with the first two, during which England managed only three wickets after declaring on their overnight score of 267-8.

Broad's dismissal of Dimuth Karunaratne was England's only reward before lunch, while Jordan removed Kaushal Silva for 57 to end a 98-run stand with Sangakkara for the second wicket.

Mahela Jayawardene's departure on the stroke of tea sparked England's late charge, only for Sri Lanka to deny them at the last.

England were subsequently fined 10% of their match fees by the International Cricket Council for maintaining a slow over-rate, with captain Cook fined 20%.

They have named the same 12-man squad for the second final Test of the series beginning at Headingley on Friday.

Listen to Jonathan Agnew and Geoffrey Boycott analyse the day's play in the Test Match Special podcast.

Scorecard

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372 comments

  • Comment posted by mikef, at 19:31 16 Jun 2014

    And still some people say 5 day test matches are an anachronism, what other sport can you get a finish like this

  • Comment posted by MyPLClubIsTheBest, at 19:29 16 Jun 2014

    At the end of the day, cricket is the winner

  • Comment posted by TJH, at 19:39 16 Jun 2014

    Such an unbelievable end to what turned into a pulsating game. The expressions on the players faces alone tells you that this is true sport, and competition at the highest level. Such a same Lords was so empty, test cricket deserves better.

  • Comment posted by U15057097, at 19:43 16 Jun 2014

    Well done England and Sri Lanka.

    That's Test Cricket!

  • Comment posted by Hendos Hair Do, at 21:59 16 Jun 2014

    People having a pop at Prior? I'm guessing you didn't see his and Root's partnership in the first innings?

    Jesters.

  • Comment posted by Jeff, at 20:01 16 Jun 2014

    If England has declared earlier yesterday, it would have created a different reality today

    Everything has played out perfectly to create a wonderful final day which England almost won

  • Comment posted by Ben Hawkins, at 20:12 16 Jun 2014

    @49 - Equally KP might have holed out to long on without reaching double figures.

  • Comment posted by laughingdevil, at 23:06 16 Jun 2014

    The problem is England's Tactics.

    We needed to bowl them out today, and to give yourself the best chance you want the most overs you can.

    So what did we do?

    The same old tactics of trying to slow the game down, 6 field changes per over, slow changeovers etc that we have been using for years to try and bore the opposition to death.

    Today we drew a match we should have won because of it!

  • Comment posted by U13716022, at 22:00 16 Jun 2014

    126 - I have to agree in part. We should be pulverising SL at home, but yet Cook & Co get a big pat on the back for nearly winning. Sums up the lack of ruthlessness in a massive way.

  • Comment posted by U14986867, at 21:47 16 Jun 2014

    SL deserved the draw - batting in very poor light conditions plus Herath was not out but good effort from the seamers.

    There's too much caution in declarations. Every now and then an aggressive declaration will catch you out but most of the time it will work for you. Cook plus England mgmt should learn from this.

  • Comment posted by U16092834, at 20:42 16 Jun 2014

    Who said this would be a boring draw

    Test cricket at its unpredictable best

  • Comment posted by Maxtor, at 19:37 16 Jun 2014

    Well done Sri Lanka. Draw is a fair result. It would have been a travesty for SL to lose this test because the umpire didn't spot a clear inside edge in the final over.

    Not a big fan of review system but I am convinced after this test.

  • Comment posted by U15741547, at 01:07 17 Jun 2014

    For me ICC need to do away with the ridiculous umpire's call in DRS, the point of technology is to get the "correct" decision not one that overwhelmingly proves the umpire wrong. In this match it might have cost Matt Prior dear but it works the other way too.
    Umpire's call = heads or tails, pot luck.

    If not then stick with neutral umpires and get rid of DRS.
    Either a mammal or a bird please!!

  • Comment posted by U15349128, at 23:34 16 Jun 2014

    Who would have thought that it you pitch it up and bowl line and length you might start taking wickets....

    It's only taken about 6 months to learn this lesson!

  • Comment posted by Alex Green, at 22:29 16 Jun 2014

    Finding it difficult to understand people that say Test Cricket is boring and should die out. All formats can provide the kind of excitement that we saw today (just as all formats can sometimes be drab and insipid).

  • Comment posted by Its_a_Knockout, at 21:37 16 Jun 2014

    Brilliant test in the end. No victory for England but a massive, massive win for the DRS system. Both teams should be credited for their much-improved sportsmanship from the one-dayers. Looking forward to Headingly now - I think the wicket might be better prepared for the home team than Lord's so it'll be a more important toss to win.

  • Comment posted by U2603014, at 20:53 16 Jun 2014

    No way should they drop Moeen Ali after one test. He made 48 and also got the prize wicket of Kumar Sangakarra in the firrst innings. Dockrell is no better spinner anyway. Hardly played any first class cricket and Moeen is a class batsman.

  • Comment posted by Perton66, at 20:08 16 Jun 2014

    Firstly a great advert for test cricket. A unique format which is the pinnacle of the game. I've no issue with the timing of Cook's declaration. Lords is the flattest of wickets and Sri Lanka were more than capable of chasing down 330 in say 100 overs. Cook gave England a chance of victory, but he was right not to risk defeat having been in the ascendency for so long

  • Comment posted by Guernsey Red, at 09:30 17 Jun 2014

    Not following people saying England "should" have declared earlier. It was a batsman's wicket and the bowlers were getting nothing until late on day 5.

    - had England declared earlier on day 4, say a lead of 350 - with an attacking field in the evening Sri Lanka prob would have nicked 50 odd runs leaving them needing 300 on D5 (rather than 390). The risk was England could comfortably have lost!

  • Comment posted by Sussex by the Sea, at 04:14 17 Jun 2014

    Reiffel's umpiring at the death was lamentable. Two awful decisions in the space of an over. If SL had lost, it would have been a travesty.

    Penultimate ball: consider this . . . what if SL had used up all their reviews Cook thought there was an edge onto pad. Would he have made a sporting gesture and used one of his own reviews or withdrawn the appeal (with the consent of the umpires, of course)?

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