A brilliant hundred from Jonny Bairstow on his return to the England side led the visitors to 312/7 on day one of the third Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo.
Having lost his place in the team as wicketkeeper to the impressive Ben Foakes, an injury to Sam Curran allowed Bairstow to make his first appearance in the series at No. 3 in the batting order, and he took the opportunity with both hands to claim his sixth Test hundred, and first as a specialist batsman.
Joe Root won the toss and elected to bat for the third match in a row but England’s openers weren’t to last long as Rory Burns (14) and Keaton Jennings (13) departed early in the morning session.
Some early blows did not deter England, as the Yorkshire pair of Root and Bairstow set about building a competitive first-innings score. Bairstow was assured at the crease from his very first delivery, hitting Dilruwan Perera through the covers for a boundary. It set the tone for perhaps his finest innings in an England shirt.
Root (46) wasn’t to replicate his Pallekele heroics however, as he fell top-edging a sweep from the bowling of Lakshan Sandakan, who picked up 4/91 as he returned to the Sri Lankan team in place of Akila Dananjaya.
Root’s demise allowed Ben Stokes to come in and provide support to Bairstow, and he did so with a fluent half-century. The all-rounder’s footwork to the spinners was excellent, playing from right back in his crease to anything short, while sweeping hard against any delivery that arrived in his slot. Nor was he afraid of advancing down the track, as Perera was treated to a lofted drive over his head for six.
Bairstow eased his way through the nineties, bringing up his ton with a sweep off the bowling of Sandakan. An emotional celebration highlighted just how important the knock was in the context of his career.
Stokes would depart in the same over for 57, as Sandakan found both flight and turn to take the England batsman’s outside edge with Dhananjaya de Silva taking a good catch at slip.
It was to ignite a mini fightback from Sri Lanka as Sandakan sent Bairstow on his way with 110 to his name, bowling him through the gate as the centurion looked to smash one through midwicket. Jos Buttler departed in tame fashion, returning a catch to Sandakan with a mistimed shot.
While Ben Foakes departed for 13, Moeen Ali rode his luck, surviving a dropped chance at slip as well as overturning two reviews to cap another frustrating day in the series for Sri Lanka.
England’s tail will look to stretch out their first-innings total tomorrow as they look to seal a rare series whitewash.
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