England remain in position to claim a 3-0 series win against Sri Lanka even if a stuttering performance with the bat and the loss of their captain, Alastair Cook, with a knee injury meant the third day at Lord’s did not go entirely to plan.
Bowling out the tourists for 288 to claim a first-innings lead of 128, the home side stumbled to 109 for four by the close but sit 237 runs ahead, having at one stage lost three wickets for five runs in the space of 10 deliveries.
Steven Finn, who earlier claimed three for 59 with the ball, will resume in the morning as nightwatchman on six with Alex Hales 41 not out; the England opener had put on 51 with Jonny Bairstow (32) from a worrying position of 50 for three.
Paul Farbrace, England’s assistant coach, praised the bowlers – and the form of the double wicket-taker Chris Woakes in particular – but he lamented the loss of four batsmen in the absence of Cook. “It’s disappointing to lose four – two would have been more like it – but there is something there in the pitch and with the overhead conditions,” Farbrace said.
Cook had missed the last two sessions after being struck on the left knee fielding at silly mid-off; x-rays later showed heavy bruising and he will be assessed in the morning before play.
The Test series win, secured before this dead-rubber, has presented further questions about the fallibility of England’s batting, with Nick Compton looking unlikely to add to his 16 caps after seeing a run of first-class innings without a half-century stretch to 18.
Promoted to open after tea in the absence of Cook, the right-hander reached 19 before edging behind to seamer Shaminda Eranga and is now expected to be left out of the first Test with Pakistan at Lord’s on 14 July.
Farbrace said: “It’s been a tough series for him. He knows that and that batsmen are in the team to score runs. He has shown glimpses but glimpses aren’t always enough. He looked good and then nicks one behind – you can see how disappointed he was when he walked off.”
The headache is not consigned to one batsman alone, however, with James Vince seeing his maiden Test series end with an average of 13.5 after a first-ball duck when shouldering arms to a delivery from Nuwan Pradeep, who had bowled Joe Root with one that kept low off the surface. Hales is one positive, though, backing up scores of 86 and 83 at Headingley and Chester-le-Street with a composed showing here.
Farbrace said: “We have never said we are the finished team, we know we have a lot of work to do. We have been winning games without contributions throughout and that is a good place to be. It’s not just Compo, it’s everyone.”
On the injury to Cook, Farbrace said: “He has been for a scan and it is a nasty blow on the knee. The doc has said there is no fracture and hopefully he will net in the morning and see how it goes. We will see how sore he is and how much pain he is in, as to whether he bats or not.”
Sri Lanka’s Dimuth Karunaratne said: “Our bowlers did really well and we are still in the game. If we can get some early wickets in the morning then we still have a good chance. On this wicket, 275 to 300 will be a chaseable target.”
