Sri Lanka's tour match against Essex ends in draw

Teenager Topley has taken 28 wickets in seven matches this season

Rain ended Sri Lanka's hopes of valuable batting practice ahead of the third Test against England as they drew with Essex.

Only 12 overs of play were possible at Chelmsford where the tourists, resuming on 7-1, stumbled to 38-3.

Tharanga Paranavitana was trapped lbw by Maurice Chambers before Reece Topley had Dinesh Chandimal superbly caught by Ryan ten Doeschate at third slip.

Teenager Topley was the pick of the bowlers with match figures of 6-34.

The 17-year-old school student is the son of former Essex favourite Don Topley and has impressed in his first county season with 28 wickets in seven matches, including five wickets in an innings on two occasions.

Left-arm seamer Topley bowled 21.4 overs against a strong batting line-up and Essex bowling coach Chris Silverwood was delighted with his progression.

"He has a big heart, is quick to take on advice and works hard at his game," said the former England fast bowler.

"It's very encouraging to see the level of progress he has made so far and he's made a very encouraging start to his career, but he knows there is a lot of hard work ahead of him yet."

Sri Lanka interim coach Stuart Law said it was "highly likely" captain Tillakaratne Dilshan will miss the final Test against England at the Rose Bowl starting on Thursday.

His likely replacement, Lahiru Thirimanne, hit a confidence-boosting century on day one in a 152-run stand with former skipper Kumar Sangakkara (153), vital batting practice as the tourists look to level the three-Test series.

"The game against Essex has proved very useful because it's allowed a couple of our batsmen to get amongst the runs," said Australian Law.

"Young Lahiru Thirimanne, who is only 21, batted well in our first innings and hit 104 before we retired him out, which was a good indication that he was hitting the ball as good as he could.

"It was also great for Sangakkara to get out there and score 153 runs in the first innings and that will do his confidence no end of good."