Eng look to see off SL
Afp, Nottingham
England will look to seal their first Test series victory since last year's Ashes triumph against Australia when they face Sri Lanka in the climax of a three-Test campaign at Trent Bridge starting here on Friday.England went 1-0 up thanks to a six-wicket win at Edgbaston in the second Test, completed with more than a day to spare. But they were grateful to be chasing a small target of 78 as off-spin great Muttiah Muralidaran took four for 29. So far this series Kevin Pietersen has been the backbone of England's batting with superb scores of 158 in the drawn opener at Lord's and 142 at Edgbaston. His second hundred was all the more astonishing as no other England batsman made more than 30 in a first innings total of 295. But there is a limit to the extent that England can rely on their South Africa-born strokemaker and after Edgbaston, stand-in captain Andrew Flintoff admitted: "We would have liked to have scored more runs... We should have got closer to 360, 370 in that first innings." No England side has ever been unchanged for a three-match series at home but that could happen at Trent Bridge if Jon Lewis, the uncapped Gloucestershire seamer, is once again omitted from the 12-man squad. And having backed Sajid Mahmood and Liam Plunkett so far this series, it would be a surprise if England dropped either of them even though Trent Bridge has a reputation for aiding swing bowlers such as Lewis. Meanwhile the 34-year-old Murali, who took 16 for 220 in Sri Lanka's astonishing 10-wicket Test win against England at The Oval in 1998, has indicated that Friday's match could be his last on English soil, saying: "I am very determined to win at Nottingham and go out in England on a high." He could yet have a decisive say in the outcome of this series but Murali will need his batsmen to give him more runs to work with than at Edgbaston. Squads
England (from): Marcus Trescothick, Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff (c), Geraint Jones, Liam Plunkett, Sajid Mahmood, Matthew Hoggard, Monty Panesar, Jon Lewis Sri Lanka (probable): Upul Tharanga, Michael Vandort, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene (c), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chamara Kapugedera, Farveez Maharoof, Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralidaran, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Zoysa, Sanath Jayasuriya
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