3 minute read

Josh Hull gave England another glimpse of his potential with two more debut wickets as Sri Lanka were dismissed for 263 on day three of the third Test.

Hull, aged just 20 and one of the rawest selections in recent memory, opened his account on Saturday but also had to deal with the disappointment of dropping a simple catch to reprieve Dhananjaya de Silva.

Handed an immediate chance to put things right with the first spell of the morning at the Kia Oval, the 6ft 7in left-armer bounced out the Sri Lanka captain in his second over and then pinned Vishwa Fernando lbw with a nice inswinger.

A wayward full-toss almost brought him a fourth success – for the first time in his brief first-class career – but Olly Stone spilled Lahiru Kumara at fine leg.

Hull was chosen here for his future promise and striking physical attributes rather than any proven pedigree on the county circuit and there were positive signs in a six-over spell that left him with figures of three for 53.

On two occasions he persuaded the ball to rise sharply as it exploded past the batter and cleared wicketkeeper Jamie Smith on its way to the boundary.

His dismissal of De Silva showcased a decent short ball, the batter trying and failing to get on top of the bounce as he shovelled a catch to Shoaib Bashir.

But England will have been just as enthused by his delivery to Vishwa, curving through the air towards leg stump and rapping the front pad.

It fell to the old stager Chris Woakes to get the most stubborn of Sri Lanka's batters, the in-form Kamindu Mendis feeding a catch to Joe Root at slip for 64, before Stone and Bashir took one apiece to wrap things up.

Stone once again caught the eye with some hostile deliveries before drawing Milan Rathnayake's outside edge and finished with an impressive three for 35.