England vs Sri Lanka, Lord's Test as it happened: Bairstow ton takes England to 279/6

London, United Kingdom:  England captain Alastair Cook won the toss and elected to bat against Sri  Lanka in the third Test at Lord’s on Thursday.

England were unchanged from the side that won the second Test by nine wickets at the Riverside to go an unbeatable 2-0 up in the three-match series, with the under-pressure Middlesex duo of number three batsman Nick Compton and fast bowler Steven Finn given another chance to shine on their Lord’s home ground.

Sri Lanka made one change, recalling batsman Kusal Perera for his first match of any kind in more than six months after a doping ban was rescinded because of a faulty drugs test.

Perera replaced injured spin-bowling all-rounder Milinda Siriwardana.

Shaminda Eranga was retained in the side despite the paceman being reported for a suspect action during the second Test.

Under International Cricket Council regulations, Eranga is free to play while the results of a test on his action are scrutinised.

Sri Lanka have yet to win a Test at Lord’s, with seven previous meetings at the ‘home of cricket’ against England yielding five draws and two defeats.

Their last four Tests have all ended in draws and all first-class matches played at Lord’s this season have also ended in a stalemate on a succession of typically good batting pitches.

Before the toss, Cook was presented with a commemorative silver bat by theEngland and Wales Cricket Board to mark his achievement in reaching 10,000 Test runs – the first England player to do so – during the second Test.

Teams

England: Alastair Cook (capt), Alex Hales, Nick Compton, Joe Root, James Vince, Jonny Bairstow (wkt), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad, Steven Finn, James Anderson

Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne, Kaushal Silva, Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal (wkt), Angelo Mathews (capt), Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Perera, Rangana Herath, Suranga Lakmal, Shaminda Eranga, Nuwan Pradeep

Umpires: Rod Tucker (AUS), S Ravi (IND)

TV umpire: Aleem Dar (PAK)

Match referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM)

Weather Sunny, 14 degrees C rising to 22 degrees C.

Pitch conditions: Surface with light grass covering should be a good one for batting, although there may be early movement.