Lord's Test: Sri Lanka hold out for dramatic draw with England

London Sri Lanka tailender 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 Lords on MondayEnglands James Anderson celebrates a wicket PicAFPEngland in their first Test since their 50 Ashes drubbing in Australia and with a newlook team including three debutants thought theyd won when Stuart Broad had Pradeep given out lbw off the penultimate ball of the matchBut the batsman reviewed Australian umpire Paul Reiffels decision and with technology showing an inside edge he was reprievedSri Lanka set 390 to win after England captain Alastair Cook declared before the start of Mondays play finished on 201 for nineThe 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 wasnt quite enough to secure a stunning winInstead the result left the teams allsquare ahead of Fridays second and final Test of the series at HeadingleySri Lanka appeared in little danger at 159 for two until Anderson took three wickets in 14 balls either side of teaFirst he had Mahela Jayawardene caught behind for 18 hanging out his batAnd he then dismissed Kumar Sangakkara who in common with Jayawardene was probably playing his last Test at Lords for 61 when the lefthander played on driving loosely outside off stumpHis 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 MarchLahiru Thirimanne never looked at ease and it was no surprise when he fell for two edging Anderson to debutant Chris Jordan at second slipEngland thought Anderson had Prasanna Jayawardene lbw on noughtBut New Zealand umpire Billy Bowden ruled not out and with a replay showing the ball just grazing the stumps his original verdict was upheldDecison overturnedThe wicketkeeper defied England for more than an hourandahalf until paceman Jordan speared one into his pads with Bowdens decision overturned on this occasionAnd there were just under seven overs remaining when seamer Broad had Nuwan Kulasekara lbwSri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews who made 102 in the first innings did his best to bat his side to safetyBut after more than two hours of resistance Sunday he edged a fulllength delivery from Anderson straight to Cook at first slipEngland now needed two wickets in the final three overs to claim a dramatic victoryAnd that was still the case come the last over bowled by BroadTo the very first ball of that over Rangana Herath was caught behind of the glove by wicketkeeper Matt PriorThen came the fifth ball drama before Pradeep who together with fellow tailender Shaminda Eranga finished on nought not out edged the final ball short of the slipsCook predictably declared on Englands overnight 267 for eight after lefthander Gary Ballance had reached his maiden Test hundred in the final over of Sundays playZimbabweborn Ballance 24 remained on 104 not out having helped England recover from the struggling position of 121 for six in only his second Test and in the key position of number threeCooks declaration left Sri Lanka needing to break the Lords record for a winning fourthinnings total in a Test of 344 for one requiring 342 set by the West Indies against England in 1984 for victoryIt was a target that Sri Lanka never looked like approaching in Mondays final 90 overs and England were left to wonder whether Cook should have declared late on Sunday rather than on MondayEngland might also have been pondering their contribution to a slow overrate by both teams at Lords which saw 17 overs unbowled in the match