RIGHT-ANDER
Jimmy delivers knockout blow with 10-wicket haul
HEADINGLEY agony turned to joy for Jimmy Anderson two years after one of the most frustrating moments of his international career.
Back in 2014, Anderson was dismissed from the penultimate ball of the match to give Sri Lanka a shock victory.
But the Lancastrian was at his majestic best on the other side of the Pennines with match figures of 10 for 45 in a crushing innings victory that put England 1-0 up in the series.
England captain Alastair Cook brought his talisman on from the Kirkstall Lane End to administer the last rites at 5.08pm as Nuwan Pradeep was castled.
“That’s sport, isn’t it? You have good days and bad days. It is amazing that with the same opposition, same place, you can have such a contrast of emotions,” said Cook.
“You never bury a moment like we had in 2014, but we put in a performance that justifies the standards we are capable of. We didn’t do that two years ago.”
After Anderson and Stuart Broad ransacked the tourists on Friday, England’s attack – minus the injured Ben Stokes – roared in between showers to demolish their opponents inside 36 overs.
“You don’t want to take it for granted, but we knew if those two guys bowled with the skill they have it would be really hard work for Sri Lanka,” Cook added.
Anderson was as imperious on the third day as he was on the second, swerving the ball this way and that past a succession of Sri Lankan outside edges.
Occasionally, he hit them too. Twice before lunch that was the case as Dimuth Karunaratne was sent back by a delivery of extra bounce and Kaushal Silva was undone by a pearler, which manof- the- match Jonny Bairstow grabbed low behind the stumps.
Rain delayed the inevitable and coach Trevor Bayliss refocused his team with a rare on-field team talk as they walked back on at 3.30pm.
Cook said: “He told us to make sure we were on it from ball one.
“Sometimes after a break you can drift into a session, you can be looking at the clouds, so he wanted us all to be on it.
“The fielders were backing up the bowlers with intensity.”
Moeen Ali was only asked to bowl so Anderson and Broad could change ends, but struck with his fourth ball as Dinesh Chandimal chopped on.
Brilliant
Once Kusal Mendis’ lives ran out – he gave three chances in his half-century – the rest followed in a heap.
Bairstow won the Yorkshire popular vote by edging out Anderson for man of the match – courtesy of a Headingley Test record nine catches and a brilliant 140.
“It looked like Jonny was playing on a different wicket to the other 21 guys, it was an extraordinary innings to set things up,” Cook said.
Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews slammed his team’s performance, but insisted they could hit back at Durham – starting on Friday.
“It was an embarrassing defeat,” he said. “We have a good enough batting line-up to get past 300, so to get out for 90 was poor execution.”