England halted by rain as Sri Lanka are set record target of 362 to win

Sri Lanka require another 330 runs in order to claim an unlikely victory in the third Test after England were held up by rain on a controversy-laden day four at Lord's. Alex Hales made 94 as the hosts declared on 233 for 7, setting 362 to prevail - the biggest total for Sri Lanka to win a Test match.

Inclement conditions around the home of cricket ensured that play was delayed until 2:40pm and with such a big chunk taken out of the match England wasted no time in adding to their lead. Hales survived being bowled, following a controversial no ball against Nuwan Pradeep, on his way to his third Test half century, with Alastair Cook contributing 49 not out following his knee problem suffered on day three - an innings which included some uncharacteristically attacking and expansive strokes.

Further rain threatened to force another delay but after England declared shortly following the loss of Moeen Ali (9), Sri Lanka began their pursuit of what would be a record-breaking total. Dimuth Karunaratne [19] and Kaushal Silva [12] saw out the final 12 overs to close on 32 for 0 give them some hope going into day five, and frustrate a whitewash-pursuing England.

Earlier in the day, James Anderson was reprimanded by the International Cricket Council for his remonstrations with umpire Sundaram Ravi on day three of the match. The Lancashire-born seamer was reminded as to his responsibilities having been handed a level 1 penalty after being ordered not to "verbally engage" with Rangana Herath.

The away side were the later asked to remove a flag draped over their dressing room balcony, displayed as a sign of support for the team after Pradeep was denied the wicket of Hales after being adjudged to have over-stepped. Replays later suggested the decision made by Rod Tucker was incorrect, prompting the unfurling of the flag which was in response to a number of key decisions which have gone against the team in the three-Test series.