Any watching Irishmen - or even the odd bemused Spaniard - would have been familiar with the concept. A penalty shootout, to settle the match. That's what it boiled down to after five long days: 50 in six overs, sudden-death stuff. It sounded impossible, with bowlers of the calibre of Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan, and with Sanath Jayasuriya allowed to place all his fielders on the boundary if he wanted. But those penalty-shootout nerves intruded. Upul Chandana, one of the best fielders in the side, allowed one through his hands for four, and Murali was shocked to see Marcus Trescothick smashing him into the pavilion for six.

Suddenly England needed less than a run a ball - but Jayasuriya seemed frozen, and left the fielders out. In the end England cantered home with an over to spare.

The last-minute thrills rounded off one of those days when, just as Sri Lanka looked to be nearing safety, a wicket fell. The strange case of the three men behind square - which turned a wicket into a no-ball - wasn't vital in the end. Nor was the absence of Andy Caddick, as Matthew Hoggard and Alex Tudor chugged on in till the end. You could call it injury time: no Caddick, Giles feeling his back, Butcher flexing that sore knee, Stewart suffering from sore fingers.

The bowlers were weary after forcing the follow-on. England hadn't actually won a Test without either Caddick or Darren Gough since the first one of 1996, when they caught India cold at Edgbaston. (For the record England's bowling attack then was Chris Lewis, Dominic Cork and Graeme Hick, plus three debutants – Alan Mullally, Ronnie Irani and Min Patel.) This was a fine, persistent performance.

You had to feel sorry for Russel Arnold, who led the Sri Lankan batting resistance. Slight, almost delicate, Arnold looks as if a heavy wind would blow him away, and sounds like a refugee from Tom Brown's Schooldays – and England's fast Flashmen hadn't had much trouble knocking him over in the first two Tests.

But on being restored to the top of the order, after Jayasuriya's move in the opposite direction, Arnold was a revelation. He has a modest Test average hovering around the 30 mark. Put him in first, though, and that's doubled – this century took his average from the top of the order to 65.40.

So a memo to Jayasuriya: go back up the order if you like – but make sure your opening partner is Russel Arnold.

It all boiled up into an exciting end to a low-key series, in which England outdid Sri Lanka for doggedness and professionalism. It seems an awfully long time ago that England were digging in to follow on in the Lord's Test. Only today did Sri Lanka show anything like the same stickability – and by then it was too late. Two-nil to Ing-er-land ... a scoreline the whole nation would settle for on Friday.

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