England complete series win after drab draw at Lord's

England 416 & 233-7 dec (Hales 94) drew with
Sri Lanka 288 & 78-1 (Karunaratne 37no)
Third Test, Lord’s, day five
Scorecard

A little more than 12 overs were possible on a gloomy fifth day at Lord’s as the third Test match ended in a drab draw with Sri Lanka scoring 78 for one in 24.2 overs in the fourth innings as a result of which England claimed the series 2-0 due to victories in the previous two games.

Just like the fourth day, the start of play on day five was delayed due to rain. Initially, the delay was expected to be short and the start was scheduled for 11:30 local time.

However, after multiple rain interruptions, the umpires called for an early lunch and the game finally resumed at 13:20 local time.

Four overs into the day, Kaushal Silva (16) was trapped lbw trying to leave a delivery from James Anderson (1-27). The on-field call was upheld and a review from Silva did not save him.

The rain returned soon after the dismissal and the players left the ground. The interruption lasted more than two and a half hours during which the tea break was called for.

The game finally resumed at 16:10 local time. Dimuth Karunaratne (37 not out) and Kusal Mendis (17 not out) played positively and kept hitting the odd boundaries.

In the seventh over of the final session, England reviewed a caught behind appeal. The replays clearly showed no involvement of the bat and Mendis survived.

Moments later, the rain returned with Sri Lanka needing 284 more runs with nine wickets in hand.
This time, the rain did not relent and the umpires decided to call off play for the rest of the day, ending the third Test as a draw.

England won the series 2-0, Jonny Bairstow was the man of the match and also the man of the series for England. Silva was the man of the series for Sri Lanka.

© Cricket World 2016