Eng v SL, 3rd Test Day 1 Review: Jonny Bairstow stands tall amid Lankan dominance

Jonny Bairstow once again stood tall and fended off a much-improved Sri-Lankan bowling attack as he notched up yet another century in the ongoing Eng v SL Test series. England skipper Alastair Cook also played a useful knock as the Brits and the Lankans shared the spoils. However, it was the performance of the Lankan bowling attack who stole the limelight with some splendid bowling spells.

Alastair Cook won the toss and chose to bat on a pristine batting strip at Lords. With little or no hint of grass on a dryish looking surface, Cook had seemingly made the right call. Angelo Mathews let loose his bowling attack comprising of Shaminda Eranga, Suranga Lakmal, and Nuwan Pradeep.

In spite of putting on a half-century partnership, Alex Hales was the first to go when a sinister masterstroke from Angelo Mathews paid off. Bringing on Rangana Herath before the 20th over saw an impatient Alex Hales top edge the ball straight into the hands of Angelo Mathews. While the wicket would have not meant anything significant at the time, it triggered an unprecedented and shocking England collapse.

Nick Compton’s woes with the bat continued as he nicked one to Dinesh Chandimal off the bowling of Suranga Lakmal. The latter struck a few deliveries later as Joe Root was trapped leg-before. James Vince’s debut Test series went from bad to worse as he was castled by Nuwan Pradeep, a wicket that saw the home side reeling at 4-84.

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In spite of the good batting conditions, the Brits seemingly had underestimated the bowling attack of the Lankans. Even the presence of Jonny Bairstow, perhaps England’s best batsman in the series also looked rather troubled in the middle. Nuwan Pradeep impressed one and all with a fantastic spell of bowling. It was Bairstow who had to weather the storm as a wounded England retreated to the haven of the Lords ballroom for Lunch, a much needed break as far as Alastair Cook was concerned.

The rattled Englishmen found their feet after the lunch interval as Bairstow and Cook began their partnership in earnest. They went on to add an immensely valuable 80 runs to the good before Nuwan Pradeep struck again. This time, it was the important wicket of Alastair Cook. The England skipper was trapped by a wonderful delivery from Pradeep. The hero of the second Test at Durham, Moeen Ali became Herath’s next victim as he was caught at first slip by skipper Angelo Mathews.

However, these wickets seemingly failed to unnerve Bairstow as he survived several Lankan appeals and attempts to play a gem of an innings. He crossed his second century of the series and concluded the day unbeaten of 107 with Chris Woakes also unbeaten of 23. Therefore, in 90 overs, England closed on the score of 279/6, thereby sharing the spoils with the gritty Lankans.

Brief Scores:

England 1^st Innings: 279/6 in 90 overs (J Bairstow 107*; R Herath 2/45)