Asitha Fernando to Duckett, no run

Asitha Fernando to Duckett, no run, length delivery slanting across outside off, Duckett feels like this one's there to be hit and flashes at it, goes with an angled bat and gets beaten

Asitha Fernando to Duckett, no run

Asitha Fernando to Duckett, no run, good length delivery on off-stump, Duckett bunts it into the off-side watchfully

Duckett and Lawrence are at the crease. Duckett is on strike. Asitha Fernando will open the attack

Here we go then, first ball coming up. Two slips and a gully with a packed off-side field

Right, the teams are out there for the national anthems.

Pitch report: "It's a little bit lighter now than it was, the cloud cover has lifted a bit. There's going to be a bit of a challenge batting while facing from the Vauxhall end because it's always a bit dark down there. It's a really good toss to have won and to have elected to bowl. Sri Lanka have to be careful of hoping for it to move, you need to hit the pitch hard here. Hit the top of off-stump and bring the slips into play. Need to bowl in that in-between length where the batters can't quite get forward. Expect England to come out and hit boundaries, they'll come out and attack" say Stuart Broad and Mark Butcher.

Ollie Pope: Looked like a bowl first wicket but a great opportunity to challenge ourselves with bat.

Sri Lanka have won the toss and have opted to field

Dhananjaya De Silva: Yea (we'll bowl first). Can't control the weather, just focus on what we can do while bowling, batting and fielding. We're going with 4 seamers, think the workload will be shared.

Sri Lanka have won the toss and have opted to field

It's a grey morning in South London and the forecasts suggest scattered showers for today.

Sri Lanka, meanwhile, have a lot to play for and will be keen to head home with a win in their kitty.

10:00 Local Time, 09:00 GMT, 14:30 IST: Here we are then for the closing act for what England hope will be a flawless summer of cricket. They’ve followed up a 3-0 series win over the West Indies with 2-more wins over Sri Lanka in this one. With one game to go, they’ll be mighty confident of keeping their record unblemished.

Teams:

Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal(w), Dhananjaya de Silva(c), Kamindu Mendis, Milan Priyanath Rathnayake, Lahiru Kumara, Vishwa Fernando, Asitha Fernando

England (Playing XI): Daniel Lawrence, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope(c), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith(w), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Olly Stone, Josh Hull, Shoaib Bashir

Preview

Technically, the final Test of the three-match series at The Oval is a dead rubber after England's convincing wins at Manchester and Lord's. However, the home side will want to continue rebuilding the red-ball side that has recently seen the retirements of James Anderson and Stuart Broad. It has been a flawless summer for England thus far, having blanked West Indies 3-0 in the three-match series before the ongoing Sri Lanka series. While the hosts were expected to emerge victorious in both assignments, what will please Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum is the way in which their new selections are paying off.

Jamie Smith has taken to Test cricket like a fish to water and is the third-highest run-scorer of the series with 197 runs from four innings. Matthew Potts filled in admirably as the support seamer in Mark Wood's absence while Gus Atkinson has not only picked up wickets but also created records with his batting. England's batting has largely been about Joe Root who has been at his pristine best. So convincing have England been that the absence of Stokes for this series hasn't affected their morale or team form. Sterner challenges await, of course, but the signs are positive and stand-in captain Ollie Pope will hope that his side can end the summer on a high.

Sri Lanka have fought hard and arguably punched well above their weight but the batting has let them down during crucial phases of the series. That only one batter from the visitors has managed a three-figure mark in the form of Kamindu Mendis is a telling stat, as is the fact nobody else has gone past the tally of 200 runs for the series. Veteran Angelo Mathews has been the biggest disappointment for the visitors, given his experience and mental toughness. The bowling has tried to cover up for the batting deficiencies but just like 20 wickets are needed to win Tests, runs on the board is crucial to set up games.

Sri Lanka will want more from their veterans as they head into The Oval with nothing but the cliched pride to play for. It will hurt Dhananjaya de Silva's men that they haven't been able to do better in advantageous positions against a relatively weaker England side. Apart from Mendis' stupendous resolve, Asitha Fernando's bowling has been the other significant positive for the tourists with the pacer topping the wicket-taking charts. If only both players had gotten better support in their respective departments, the story of the series could have been much different.

When: England vs Sri Lanka, 3rd Test, September 6-10, 11:00 AM local time

Where: The Oval, London

What to expect: It is forecast to be a rainy week in London with intermittent showers expected, particularly on day one and day three. There should still be enough game time to force a result, given that the surface is expected to be a lively deck with good pace and bounce in it.

Team news:

England

The hosts have made one change to their XI from Lord's with Josh Hull set to debut in place of Matthew Potts. Rest of the playing XI remains unchanged, barring any last-minute injuries.

Confirmed XI: Dan Lawrence, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope(c), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith(wk), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Olly Stone, Josh Hull, Shoaib Bashir

Sri Lanka

The visitors might be tempted to bring Kusal Mendis back into the XI but that could be at the cost of Nishan Madushka who has had underwhelming returns so far. There is also a possibility of drafting in Kasun Rajitha or Vishwa Fernando in a rotational move for the pace attack.

Probable XI: Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis(wk), Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya de Silva(c), Kamindu Mendis, Prabath Jayasuriya, Asitha Fernando, Kasun Rajitha/Vishwa Fernando, Lahiru Kumara

What they said:

"With the height, you can draw in some more edges with that extra bounce. It makes it a lot harder to drive the ball, especially if there is a little bit of bounce at The Oval - which there can be, especially early in the game." - Ollie Pope talks about the x-factor of England's latest pacer Josh Hull

""We've tried a few things against Joe but they were always unsuccessful." - Dimuth Karunaratne hopes his side can find a way to combat England's run machine

Squads: