Sri Lanka tail-ender Nuwan Pradeep survived the final five balls of the match as the tourists clung on for a thrilling draw with England in the first Test at Lord’s.
England, in their first Test since their 5-0 Ashes drubbing in Australia and with a new-look team including three debutants, thought they’d won when Stuart Broad had Pradeep given out lbw off the penultimate ball of the match.
But Pradeep reviewed Australian umpire Paul Reiffel’s decision and, with technology showing an inside edge, he was reprieved.
Sri Lanka, set 390 to win after England captain Alastair Cook declared before the start of play, finished on 201 for nine.
The match was meandering towards a draw until England spearhead James Anderson struck either side of tea on the way to a remarkable return of four wickets for 25 runs in 19 overs, but it wasn’t quite enough to secure a stunning win.
Instead the result left the teams all-square ahead of Friday’s second and final Test of the series at Headingley.
“I can’t praise the lads enough,” said England captain Alastair Cook. “That was a flat wicket…We gave ourselves a chance and to come up short is frustrating.”
Cook declared on England’s overnight 267 for eight, which owed much to Gary Ballance’s 104 not out — the Zimbabwe-born batsman’s maiden Test century in only his second match at this level.
That left Sri Lanka needing to break the Lord’s record for a winning fourth-innings total in a Test of 344 for one, requiring 342, set by the West Indies against England in 1984, for victory.
It was a target they never looked like approaching in the final 90 overs.
A relieved Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews, who made a firstinnings century before batting for over two hours for 18, said: “It was a close game, I thought England bowled pretty well, especially after tea, hitting the deck pretty hard and asking questions of our batsmen. It was a great team effort trying to survive.”
Sri Lanka appeared in little danger at 159 for two, with debutant Moeen Ali — brought in to fill the gap left by retired off-spinner Graeme Swann even though he’s primarily a batsman — bowling 12 wicketless overs on a last-day pitch.
However, Anderson changed the complexion of the match with three wickets for one run in 14 balls either side of tea.
First he had Mahela Jayawardene caught behind for 18, hanging out his bat and he then dismissed Kumar Sangakkara for 61 when the left-hander played on.
His exit meant Sangakkara had fallen for under 100 for the first time in four Test knocks after his 147 in the first innings of this match followed scores of 319 and 105 against Bangladesh in Chittagong in March.
There were just under seven overs remaining when seamer Broad had Nuwan Kulasekara lbw.
Mathews, did his best to bat Sri Lanka to safety until eventually edging Anderson straight to Cook at first slip.
England reduced Sri Lanka to nine down going into the final over but ultimately Pradeep survived despite edging the final ball of the match, which fell just short of the slip fielders.
