First Investec Test

JONNY BAIRSTOW’S second Test century, and two unstoppable spells from James Anderson, put England in total control against Sri Lanka at Headingley.

Bairstow, batting at No.7, has been prolific for much of the past year – especially on his home ground – for club and now country and finished with 140 out of 298 on day two of the first Investec Test.

The wicketkeeper then picked up five catches too, as Anderson (five for 16) – at a venue where he has never previously taken more than three wickets in an innings – and Stuart Broad (four for 21) hustled Sri Lanka out for just 91, before Alastair Cook enforced the follow-on.

After the tourists had lost three wickets in nine balls to stumble to 12 for three, Anderson returned to end any hope of a revival with three successive wicket-maidens.

Broad was back too to help finish the job in a hectic evening session, and Anderson appropriately struck the final blow when Shaminda Eranga became Bairstow’s fifth victim – down the leg-side, after DRS.

Bairstow had dominated stands of 141 for the sixth wicket with Alex Hales and then 56 for the ninth with Steven Finn – crucial to England’s patchy collective performance, after they stumbled to 83 for five on a rain-shortened opening day.

There was to be no hard-earned maiden century for Hales, though, the opener grinding to a near halt and eventually having to settle for a career-best 86 from 244 balls in almost five-and-a-half hours.

The century partnership, between England’s only two batsmen to pass 20, arrived after 10 minutes of another cloudy morning. Bairstow dominated with 67 of them and went on to a richly-deserved 145-ball hundred, thanks to an overthrow from Kaushal Silva at cover.