In scenes of barely believable drama, umpire Paul Reiffel gave Nuwan Pradeep out lbw to apparently hand England victory off the penultimate ball.
England were denied victory in an wonderful finale to the first Check as Sri Lanka's last-wicket pair batted out the final balls to cling on for a draw at Lord's.
The result means the teams will head to the second & final Check at Headingley, beginning on Friday, with the series all square.
But Sri Lanka used the decision review method to reveal an inside edge, & when an outside edge off the last ball landed inches short of second slip, the tourists had survived.
The match appeared to be drifting towards a stalemate when Sri Lanka, chasing a notional 390 for victory, were 164-3 at tea.
But an amazing final session, in which six wickets fell for 37 runs in fading light, saw England to the cusp of a victory that would have banished the memories of their disastrous 5-0 Ashes whitewash in Australia.
James Anderson completed with figures of 4-25 off 19 overs, Broad 3-43 & Chris Jordan 2-34 to complete a hugely encouraging debut.
Anderson swung the match either side of tea with wickets, including the prize scalps of Kumar Sangakkara & Mahela Jayawardene, in a devastating spell to reduce Sri Lanka to 170-5 with 31 overs remaining.
Jayawardene was caught behind for 18 in the over before the interval before Sangakkara, with fielders crowded round the bat as captain Alastair Cook went all-out assault, chopped on to his stumps for 61.
balls later, Lahiru Thirimanne prodded tentatively at a reverse-swinger & edged to Matt Prior to leave Sri Lanka wickets down.
Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews & Prasanna Jayawardene - batting with a broken finger - appeared to take the sting out of the tourists with a partnership that spanned twenty overs.
England took the second new ball & the mayhem continued. Broad found Nuwan Kulasekara's pads, then Anderson drew an edge from Mathews that flew to slip with 18 balls left.
The door was forced back open by the irrepressible Jordan, who trapped Jayawardene lbw to leave Sri Lanka six down.
Sri Lanka's ninth-wicket pair rode out the next overs, but Broad had Rangana Herath taken down the leg side with the first ball of the last over.
deliveries later, as Reiffel's finger went up, England were leaping around in elation, but when DRS revealed a thick inside edge, the enjoyment was all Sri Lanka's.
The drama of the final session contrasted with the first, in the coursework of which England managed only wickets after declaring on their overnight score of 267-8.
England were denied victory in an wonderful finale to the first Check as Sri Lanka's last-wicket pair batted out the final balls to cling on for a draw at Lord's.
The result means the teams will head to the second & final Check at Headingley, beginning on Friday, with the series all square.
But Sri Lanka used the decision review method to reveal an inside edge, & when an outside edge off the last ball landed inches short of second slip, the tourists had survived.
The match appeared to be drifting towards a stalemate when Sri Lanka, chasing a notional 390 for victory, were 164-3 at tea.
But an amazing final session, in which six wickets fell for 37 runs in fading light, saw England to the cusp of a victory that would have banished the memories of their disastrous 5-0 Ashes whitewash in Australia.
James Anderson completed with figures of 4-25 off 19 overs, Broad 3-43 & Chris Jordan 2-34 to complete a hugely encouraging debut.
Anderson swung the match either side of tea with wickets, including the prize scalps of Kumar Sangakkara & Mahela Jayawardene, in a devastating spell to reduce Sri Lanka to 170-5 with 31 overs remaining.
Jayawardene was caught behind for 18 in the over before the interval before Sangakkara, with fielders crowded round the bat as captain Alastair Cook went all-out assault, chopped on to his stumps for 61.
balls later, Lahiru Thirimanne prodded tentatively at a reverse-swinger & edged to Matt Prior to leave Sri Lanka wickets down.
Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews & Prasanna Jayawardene - batting with a broken finger - appeared to take the sting out of the tourists with a partnership that spanned twenty overs.
England took the second new ball & the mayhem continued. Broad found Nuwan Kulasekara's pads, then Anderson drew an edge from Mathews that flew to slip with 18 balls left.
The door was forced back open by the irrepressible Jordan, who trapped Jayawardene lbw to leave Sri Lanka six down.
Sri Lanka's ninth-wicket pair rode out the next overs, but Broad had Rangana Herath taken down the leg side with the first ball of the last over.
deliveries later, as Reiffel's finger went up, England were leaping around in elation, but when DRS revealed a thick inside edge, the enjoyment was all Sri Lanka's.
The drama of the final session contrasted with the first, in the coursework of which England managed only wickets after declaring on their overnight score of 267-8.
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