Sri Lanka's captain, Dhananjaya de Silva, won the toss and chose to field against England in the third Test at the Oval on Friday. The overcast conditions in south London, combined with a pitch that had a green tinge and was freshened by morning rain, suggested that batting could be challenging.
Both teams made adjustments from the second Test at Lord's, where England secured a 190-run victory—their seventh consecutive win against Sri Lanka—to take an insurmountable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. England introduced towering 20-year-old left-arm fast bowler Josh Hull, replacing Matthew Potts. Despite having taken only 16 wickets in 10 first-class matches, Hull was selected after capturing five wickets for the England Lions against Sri Lanka in a warm-up match last month.
Sri Lanka made two changes, with Kusal Mendis returning to the top order after Nishan Madushka was dropped, and left-arm paceman Asitha Fernando was recalled in place of left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya, as the visitors opted for a four-man seam attack. England, who earlier in the season whitewashed the West Indies 3-0, are aiming for their first clean sweep in a home Test series since 2004, when Michael Vaughan led the team to seven wins in seven matches. A victory at the Oval would also bolster either team's chances of qualifying for next year's World Test Championship final at Lord's, with England currently fifth and Sri Lanka seventh in the standings.
Teams
England: Dan Lawrence, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (capt), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith (wkt), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Olly Stone, Josh Hull, Shoaib Bashir
Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal (wkt), Dhananjaya de Silva (capt), Kamindu Mendis, Milan Rathnayake, Lahiru Kumara, Vishwa Fernando, Asitha Fernando
