Sri Lanka set 362 to win, finished on 78 for one after rain, which had prevented any play before lunch on the final day, finally saw the umpires abandon the match as a draw at 5:12 pm local time (1612 GMT).
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Dimuth Karunaratne was 37 not out and Kusal Mendis unbeaten on 17 when the match was called off.
Spectators pray for the rain to go away on the fifth and final day of the England vs Sri Lanka series, but to no avail.
England captain Alastair Cook said he was looking forward to the challenge of facing Pakistan following his side s commanding Test series win over Sri Lanka.
The Sri Lanka management reacted to Hales’s reprieve by draping the national over the tourists’ dressing-room balcony for some 45 minutes.
But in the white-ball squads published immediately after the stalemate was confirmed, seven of his series-winners are in the frame for five one-day internationals against the same opponents – and two stay on for the concluding Twenty20.
But despite that disappointment, the England skipper was delighted with the way his side had played in winning the three-Test series 2-0.
“He knows how hard he has to work at his keeping”, added Cook.
Bayliss praised Hales, whose position was under scrutiny after he struggled in the tour of South Africa, but admitted the badly out-of-form Nick Compton faces an uncertain future in the Test line-up.
Mendis hit the last ball of the match by Joe Root for six before the rain returned. “I wanted to get back in and contribute as I feel like I’m striking the ball well and the other times I have been in the squad I feel I have did okay”.
“To try and hit the ground running at the start of the season was the aim, so I’m really pleased to back up the form I’ve shown for Yorkshire in an England shirt”.
“Jonny Bairstow was quite incredible with the bat, but the mistakes he made with the wicketkeeping gloves are a concern”.
That was enough – after play got under way at 1.20pm and then briefly resumed following another two-and-a-half-hour interruption – for James Anderson to strike with a brilliant piece of swing bowling to see off Kaushal Silva.
Alex Hales again fell agonisingly short of a maiden Test hundred as England got the better of several close calls in the third Test against Sri Lanka at Lord’s on Sunday (June 12).
Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews, meanwhile, said it was a “massive learning curve” for his team following heavy defeats at Headingley and Chester-le-Street.
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Tucker received support from Hales, who said: “I have sympathy with Rod Tucker, when you think how fast the game moves and how close it was”.
