LONDON: Sri Lanka captain Tillakaratne Dilshan completed his highest Test score Sunday before rain brought a premature end to the third day of the second Test against England at Lord's. Dilshan had scored 193 in Sri Lanka's first-innings 372 for three in reply to England's 486 all out when the rain began to fall halfway through the afternoon session. Tea was taken half an hour early and the players returned to the field only to leave for the second and final time five minutes later. Dilshan, who resumed on 127, was untroubled throughout the morning session as Andrew Strauss rotated his bowlers in an attempt to force a breakthrough. He cut and drove Graeme Swann for consecutive boundaries to bring up his 150, accompanied by a subdued Kumar Sangakkara at the other end. Sangakkara prolonged his mediocre record in England with 26 in 111 minutes before he was caught behind from Chris Tremlett's fourth delivery with the second new ball. Dilshan received attention after he was hit on the right thumb by Tremlett and added only one run before he was bowled by Steven Finn. He had beaten his previous highest score of 168 against Bangladesh in 2005 and his opening partnership of 207 with Tharanga Paranavitana (65) was a record for either side in England-Sri Lanka Tests. Mahela Jayawardene, who scored centuries in both his previous appearances at Lord's, was 40 not out at the close. England won the first match in the three-Test series by an innings and 14 runs in Cardiff. SA eyes top spot South Africa Test captain Graeme Smith said Sunday the priority this season is to challenge India for first position in the world rankings. The Proteas, who are expected to confirm Monday that former India World Cup-winning coach Gary Kirsten will take charge of the Test, one-day and Twenty20 squads, hosts Australia and Sri Lanka this year.
