LONDON: Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bowl first in gloomy conditions and with the floodlights on for the third and final test against England at The Oval on Friday.
It looked like a great toss to win for the Sri Lankans, who are 2-0 down and have already lost the series. They have picked the team to fit the weather, too, with spinner Prabath Jayasuriya left out and Vishwa Fernando recalled. No. 3 batter Kusal Mendis also returned to the team.
England gave a debut to 20-year-old left-arm seamer Josh Hull, who has been fast-tracked into the squad despite only taking 16 first-class wickets in 10 matches in his career.
England coach Brendon McCullum has acknowledged it is a “hunch” and a “punt” to bring Hull into the team and is thinking ahead to wanting a left-armer in the attack for future series, including the Ashes next year.
“We know how high his ceiling is,” Ollie Pope, who is standing in as England’s captain for the injured Ben Stokes for the final time, said of Hull.
“He is bowling beautifully in the nets. It’s exciting to see him go.”
Hull was given his first test cap by former England captain Andrew Flintoff and was seen having his photograph taken with his family on the field before play began.
England, which beat the West Indies 3-0 in their series in July, has already defeated Sri Lanka at Old Trafford and Lord's, and is looking to complete a clean sweep of home test series in a summer for the first time since 2004.
England: Dan Lawrence, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (captain), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Olly Stone, Josh Hull, Shoaib Bashir.
Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal (wicketkeeper), Dhananjaya de Silva (captain), Kamindu Mendis, Milan Rathnayake, Vishwa Fernando, Lahiru Kumara, Asitha Fernando