Alastair Cook reached his 18th Test hundred, but it was Ian Bell who gave England a pre-declaration boost on the final afternoon at Lord's before Sri Lanka were left a target of 343 in 58 overs. Bell moved easily to 57 off 43 balls while Cook reached three figures off 223 deliveries having missed out by four runs in the first innings. Strauss, as is his style, wanted a few extra runs but finally called his batsman in when Stuart Broad edged behind. It left Sri Lanka seven more overs than they originally had to face in Cardiff and they also have an injured captain.
Kevin Pietersen showed some welcome form on the final morning at Lord's as England built steadily, although not flamboyantly, on their lead and were 267 ahead by lunch. He and Alastair Cook took their third-wicket stand to 127 before Pietersen fell to Rangana Herath, but although it added to his dismissal tally against left-arm spin it was a cracking delivery.
Pietersen dominated the scoring during the morning and reached his fifty from 85 balls. Although he was still battling his technique at times far more shots were coming off the middle particularly when he drove two boundaries in an over off both Chanaka Welegedara and Suranga Lakmal. He took a blow on the wrist from Lakmal, but had just one narrow escape on 54 when a leg-side flick eluded a diving Prasanna Jayawardene.
Lunch England 486 and 260 for 3 (Cook 87*, Bell 13*) lead Sri Lanka 479 by 267 runs
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