Jonny’s a smash hit at No.3
FIRED-UP Jonny Bairstow turned the screw on Sri Lanka with a brilliant hundred as he batted at No.3 for the first time.
A dab sweep took him to his sixth Test ton for England.
He immediately let out a roar, held his arms aloft, threw down his bat and his helmet, clenched his fists and hugged batting partner Ben Stokes.
It was raw emotion as he became England’s first
No.3 to score a hundred since Joe
Root in India 27 matches ago.
All the anger and frustration that has been bubbling away since he twisted his ankle playing football five weeks ago came spilling out.
“It meant a heck of a lot to me,” said Bairstow.
“To come in and do well means a huge amount and it England won toss ENGLAND 1st Innings
14 R Burns
13 K Jennings
110 J Bairstow
..46 J Root
57 B Stokes
16 J Buttler
23 M Ali 13 B Foakes
13 A Rashid
7 Extras
Total 7 wkts (88.1 overs) ........ 312 Fall:
To bat:
Bowling:
Umpires: from DEAN WILSON in Colombo
is one of the most satisfying innings of my career. “There are different things you go through when you get castigated about being injured doing X, Y and Z, when people don’t actually see what’s gone on.
“You’ve got to deliver when you’re asked to. You get left out of the side when you’ve not done too much wrong over the last couple of years.
“And then all of a sudden you’re asked to bat where you’ve not batted before.
“You look at the challenges that have been put in front of me as a cricketer and there have been a few.
“I’d like to hope I’ve come through most challenges and I’m desperately proud.
“This past couple of weeks has been really tough.” That included him losing his place to injury and the performances of his replacement Ben Foakes.
He also revealed that two friends had died recently, including former Yorkshire academy team-mate Chris Allinson.
That put things into perspective for the 29-year-old, who managed to park those thoughts as he scored 110 with the sort of grit and quality he has shown so often before.
Hobble
His chanceless ton in blistering heat, despite cramp forcing him to hobble in the latter stages, has put England – already 2-0 up – in charge as they seek a series whitewash.
He shared a 100-stand with Root and one of 99 with Stokes, who was also in the middle in Cape Town when Bairstow scored his first Test ton.
Stokes chipped in with 57 before edging to slip yesterday, although he was fortunate not to be given out lbw before scoring.
Sri Lanka’s use of the review system has been a shambles all series but this was their worst day of the lot as they wasted both of their reviews by the 22nd over.