Chandimal century gives Lanka 2-1 lead

The tactics angered captain Tillakaratne Dilshan,sitting on the balcony outside the dressing rooms,and left the crowd bemused. Chandimal eventually passed the milestone two balls into the 48th over,with a massive six over the mid-on boundary,and grabbed the winning runs with a four through extra cover. Chandimal had 11 fours and two sixes in his 126-ball knock.

Dilshan was bowled by Tim Bresnan for 3 at the start of the Sri Lankans chase but a second-wicket stand of 112 between Jayawardene 79 and Chandimal put them back in command on a flat wicket in increasingly overcast conditions. Kumar Sangakkara 25 and Thilina Kandamby 11 were the other men out for the tourists. Mathews finished on 1 not out off 21 balls.

Cook had earlier underpinned Englands innings with a gritty century,as wickets fell regularly at the other end. Partnerships of 72 Cook-Ian Bell for the fifth wicket and 75 Cook-Bresnan for the sixth revived the hosts,who stuttered to a total that was always going to be tough to defend given the benign batting surface at Lords.

Brief scores: England 246/7 Alastair Cook 119,Kevin Pietersen 41,Jeevan Mendis 2/40; Sri Lanka 249/4 in 48.2 overs Dinesh Chandimal 105 not out,Mahela Jayawardene 79,Graeme Swann 2/32