Olly Stone to Angelo Mathews, 2 runs. Olly Stone to Pathum Nissanka, Tap and run! Back of a length, over the top of the middle, Pathum Nissanka hops on the back foot and taps it along the ground towards wide mid on for a single. Olly Stone to Angelo Mathews, Misses his line in search for that swing, does Stone, sprays it on the pads, on a good length, Angelo Mathews clips it nicely to deep square leg for a single.
Olly Stone to Pathum Nissanka, Slightly short and outside off, Pathum Nissanka punches it off the back foot to wide cover for a single. Olly Stone to Pathum Nissanka, Length, on the stumps, Nissanka pushes it to mid on with a straight bat face. Josh Hull to Angelo Mathews, Hull lands it across off on a length, a gentle push from Mathews back to the bowler.
Hull starts decently. Josh Hull to Angelo Mathews, Almost a yorker, on the stumps from Hull, Angelo Mathews deals with it carefully, brings his bat down in time, and clips it off the inner half of the bat to mid-wicket. Josh Hull to Angelo Mathews, Fractionally outside off on a length, Angelo Mathews defends it with soft hands to cover.
Josh Hull to Pathum Nissanka, Back of a length, and outside off, Pathum Nissanka pushes it off the back foot to deep backward point for a single. Josh Hull to Pathum Nissanka, Nissanka looks to whip this fuller length ball sliding down leg side but misses. Josh Hull to Pathum Nissanka, Double change from England.
Josh Hull now comes into the attack, replacing Atkinson. Pitches it up, full and on the middle, Pathum Nissanka watches it closely and blocks it off the front foot. Olly Stone to Angelo Mathews, Beaten! Slight away movement on a good length, just around the corridor of uncertainty.
Angelo Mathews gets invited on the front foot, pats his front leg ahead for a defence but gets beaten by the outswing on the outside edge. Olly Stone to Angelo Mathews, Bangs in a steep bumper on the bodyline. Angelo Mathews can only duck underneath it.
Good delivery from Stone. Olly Stone to Angelo Mathews, Full, on the stumps, Angelo Mathews with a firm prod and push to mid off. Subscribe to our newsletter and get all the stories that matter delivered to your inbox Olly Stone to Pathum Nissanka, More full, but on middle again, Nissanka defends off the inner half of the blade.
The ball rolls towards the square leg region and they cross for a single. Olly Stone to Pathum Nissanka, Straight and full, on the middle, Pathum Nissanka replies solidly with a front foot defence to mid on. Olly Stone to Pathum Nissanka, Olly Stone begins his new spell with three slips and a gully.
Begins with a shorter one, on the middle, Pathum Nissanka lifts his front leg in the air and pulls it past square leg. Nissanka realises that it does not have enough steam to breach the fence, puts on the afterburners and completes the double quickly. First bowling change of Day 4.
Olly Stone replaces Chris Woakes. Gus Atkinson to Angelo Mathews, And again! Same line, same length, on middle, Angelo Mathews gets behind the line of the ball and clips it to the short leg fielder. Gus Atkinson to Angelo Mathews, Short and right on the bodyline, Angelo Mathews hops and tucks it with soft hands to the fielder at short leg who collects on the bounce.
Gus Atkinson to Angelo Mathews, Outside off on the back of a length, Angelo Mathews offers no shot at it and lets it pass alone. Gus Atkinson to Angelo Mathews, Goes short does Gus Atkinson but way down the leg stump, Angelo Mathews sways away from the line of the ball. Jamie Smith moves to the direction of the ball, to his left and collects it high on his chest level.
Gus Atkinson to Angelo Mathews, Full again, identical line, on off, Angelo Mathews blocks it with soft hands to the off side. Gus Atkinson to Angelo Mathews, Too full, on off, at 134 kph, Mathews prods ahead and meets the ball right under his eyes with a solid defence. Chris Woakes to Pathum Nissanka, First false shot from Nissanka, but gets away! Woakes offers more width this time, on the back of a length, swinging away, Pathum Nissanka slashes hard at it to access the square of the wicket with a cut but misses.
Chris Woakes to Pathum Nissanka, Attacks the off peg, on a tighter line, Nissanka responds with a solid front foot defence. Chris Woakes to Pathum Nissanka, FOUR! Nissanka has been so productive square of the wicket! Bread and butter for him! Back of a length, outside off, Nissanka gets a good bounce and width, pounces on it by weighing on the back foot and cutting it crisply past point for a boundary. The lead gets down to double figures now.
99 runs more needed. Chris Woakes to Angelo Mathews, Oh, an inswinger! Starts from outside off and curves back in sharply on the off and middle channel, Angelo Mathews negotiates well and clips it to wide mid-wicket for a single. Chris Woakes to Angelo Mathews, Back of a length, on the off stump, keeps low on the bounce, Angelo Mathews hops on the back foot and taps it off the inner half of the bat to the leg side.
Chris Woakes to Angelo Mathews, Woakes continues from over the stumps! Fuller and angling on the leg stump line, at 126 kph, Angelo Mathews clips it with soft hands to wide mid on. Gus Atkinson to Angelo Mathews, Fuller and on middle, shaping in, Angelo Mathews steps across a bit and flicks it away between mid-wicket and mid on for three more runs. Gus Atkinson to Angelo Mathews, Hits the good length, angles into the batter, Angelo Mathews pats it towards mid on.
Gus Atkinson to Angelo Mathews, Hard length and on off, takes off a bit, Angelo Mathews rides the bounce well and keeps it out to the off side. Gus Atkinson to Angelo Mathews, Back of a length and on off, Angelo Mathews stays on the back foot and blocks it out. Gus Atkinson to Pathum Nissanka, On a length and on middle, Pathum Nissanka nudges it away through square leg for a single.
Gus Atkinson to Pathum Nissanka, Short of a length and on off, Pathum Nissanka dabs it down towards point. Chris Woakes to Angelo Mathews, Back of a length and just outside off, Angelo Mathews plays inside the line of it as the ball goes through to the keeper. Chris Woakes to Pathum Nissanka, Pitched up and on middle, Pathum Nissanka tucks it past short leg for one.
Nelson on the board. Will this bring in a wicket for England? Chris Woakes to Angelo Mathews, Close call! Fuller one and on off, Angelo Mathews pushes it towards covers and sets off for the run, the fielder picks up but puts in a wild throw at the batter's end, Pathum Nissanka has to put in a desperate dive here. A direct hit from Atkinson, and it would have been close.
Sri Lanka needs to communicate better between the wickets. Chris Woakes to Angelo Mathews, And again! Chris Woakes hits the length hard and in that channel outside off, shapes away again, Angelo Mathews has a poke at it as he completely opens up his body, but the ball zips past the outside edge. Pathum Nissanka (53*) and Kusal Mendis (30*), who had already added unbeaten 55 runs for the second on Day 3, will resume the chase for Lanka.
England swiftly squandered a first innings lead of 62 with a tired display of top-order slogging, and then almost redeemed themselves thanks to one of their new stars. That they even had 218 to defend was down almost solely to Jamie Smith, one of England's discoveries of the summer, as he blasted an astonishing 67 to paper over the earlier capitulation. Pathum Nissanka led the way with a sparkling 53 not out, making hay in the late evening sunshine after England had earlier been put to the sword under floodlights during a chaotic third day at the Oval.
The visitors seem set to claim victory on Monday, barring yet another twist in a Test match full of them. Sri Lanka romped to 94 for 1 before bad light stopped play on Sunday, needing 125 more runs to secure a well-deserved turnaround victory in the third Test against England and avoid a 3-0 series whitewash. Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Day 4 of the third and final Test between England and Sri Lanka at The Oval.
Chris Woakes to Angelo Mathews, Touch fuller and on off, Angelo Mathews hangs his bat out and blocks it out. Chris Woakes to Angelo Mathews, BEAUTY! Chris Woakes lands this on a good length and just around off, shapes away a shy bit, Angelo Mathews gets squared up as he does so often, tries to play at it but gets beaten on the outside edge. Gus Atkinson to Pathum Nissanka, On a length and on middle, Pathum Nissanka pats it down wide of short leg.
Gus Atkinson to Pathum Nissanka, Hard length and on middle, jags back in sharply, Pathum Nissanka gets hurried, his bottom hand comes off but he manages to keep it down wide of short leg. Gus Atkinson to Angelo Mathews, Fuller and on the pads, Angelo Mathews clips it towards fine leg for a single. Gets off the mark.
Match Statistics Ben Duckett Dan Lawrence Ollie Pope (C) Pathum Nissanka Dimuth Karunaratne Kusal Mendis Top Stories Right Now.
