Sangakkara resolute but England win series

England had to settle for a 1-0 npower series victory after Kumar Sangakkara defiantly compiled his first international hundred in this country to salvage a stalemate at the Rose Bowl.

Sangakkara (119) oversaw stands of 75 with Rangana Herath and 141 with Thilan Samaraweera (87no) on the final day of the third Test to carry Sri Lanka to apparent safety, even before forecast rain returned, slightly behind schedule at teatime, to prevent further play and confirm the draw.

Persuaded to stand in as captain here because of Tillakaratne Dilshan's thumb injury, Sangakkara had abundant motivation to keep England at bay, albeit in the knowledge the tourists could no longer level the series.

National pride was at stake after Sri Lanka's brittle performances in this rainy summer so far, and there was doubtless personal hunger to redress the balance of a decade of under-achievement on his travels to England for a batsman of his world-class pedigree. The upshot was a near immovable tour-de-force contribution to Sri Lanka's 334 for five, and lead of 141.

England appeared to have run out of firepower and ideas as Sangakkara shut them out on a pitch which had lost a little of its fire but still provided occasional extra bounce. There was some swing too, under persistent cloud cover.

Yet Sangakkara never gave a glimpse of a chance on his way to and beyond his 25th Test hundred, rarely troubled during a 249-ball and 378-minute stay which contained 16 fours and ended only when he speared a catch to substitute fielder Adam Rouse at point off James Anderson.

An England victory here would have put them up to joint second place with South Africa, behind India, in the International Cricket Council's Test rankings.

After enduring a wicketless first hour in largely favourable bowling conditions this morning, England already appeared up against it to force the result. England had three clear-cut opportunities to shift Herath. First he was dropped by Andrew Strauss high at first slip off Anderson when Graeme Swann's movement across the captain in the cordon did not help. Then Anderson had two stumps to aim at from cover, with Herath short of his ground for Sangakkara's sharp single.

Finally, England chose not to review Rod Tucker's not-out lbw verdict when Herath was hit on the front pad in defence by Swann. The decision would have been overturned on DRS.

England's woes continued when Stuart Broad limped off with a bruised left heel, a worrying injury for their new Twenty20 captain, able to bowl again but a doubt perhaps for next weekend's short-format match against these same opponents at Bristol.By the time Herath finally departed, lbw when Swann hit him on the back leg after missing a sweep, he had served his team especially well by eating up 72 deliveries.

Sangakkara was predictably unfazed and, in company with Sri Lanka's last frontline batsman Samaraweera, he duly put his team in front before lunch with an extra-cover drive off Anderson. He made it his duty to dig in again after the break and it took him 35 minutes to add to his 89. He had not bettered 26 in five previous Test innings on this tour, yet simply became more and more assured, his trademark driving through the off-side particularly memorable.

There were minor moments of fortune for both him and Samaraweera after lunch, each edging steepling deliveries over the slips.

But they were scraps of fleeting encouragement for England, as Samaraweera passed his 50 from 72 balls and began to score at a rate which swiftly made the match safe.

Afterwards, England captain Strauss praised the Sri Lankan batsmen after a "frustrating" day. "We got ourselves in a position to go on and win the game but fair play to Sangakkara especially, the Sri Lankans blunted our attack. We didn't make the inroads we needed to make," said the skipper.

"We were a little frustrated not to take a 2-0 win. I think we got ourselves into good positions in all three Test matches and, in a way, that two-hour session in Cardiff was good enough to get us one result."

Seamer Chris Tremlett was promoted to new-ball bowler after taking six wickets in Sri Lanka's first innings, and said hard work is the key to keeping hold of it.

Tremlett took seven wickets during the match, moving him up the bowling rankings in the process.

He said: "Just keep putting in consistent performances is what I'm trying to do. Moving up the ladder is great but I want to keep improving," he said. "If I keep working hard I'll keep doing what I'm doing."