Sri Lanka debutant Dasun Shanaka took three wickets in quick succession as England suffered a top-order collapse on the first day of the first cricket Test at Headingley today.
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Dinesh Chandimal and Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews were both 15 not out in testing, overcast conditions.
“I had to rein myself in a little bit, in the channel, particularly coming forward”.
Despite a tough start to life in Test cricket in South Africa, Hales insists he never felt overawed or out of place.
The Nottinghamshire batsman said he would try to avoid letting the fact he is now just 29 runs shy of a maiden Test hundred prey on his mind. At stumps, Sri Lanka were one for naught in their second innings and were trailing by 206 runs.
“It is just a matter of putting a lot of pressure on these guys and try to get them out as early as we can”.
Cook needs just another 36 runs to become the first Englishman to reach 10,000 runs in Tests, at the ground where he admitted he seriously considered quitting as captain after the penultimate-ball defeat to The Lions in 2014. Cook had been leaving the ball with his usual sangfroid for most of his 52 deliveries, but having creamed one cover drive off Nuwan Pradeep, he was drawn into another from the slower, wobblier Shanaka. Compton committed forward, only for a thick outside edge to be pouched by Lahiru Thirimanne at first slip.
The 24-year-old removed three home batsman before lunch, including the prized scalps of Alastair Cook and Joe Root with classic pitched-up deliveries moving through the Yorkshire air, claiming 3-6 in his first spell in Test cricket.
But the game really came to life when England had the ball in their hands, with Anderson and Stuart Broad creating panic in the opposition ranks thanks to their mastery of swing and seam under grey clouds in Leeds.
A burst of three wickets in 11 balls for no runs, and five for 16 in total, was a masterful display of hitting the Headingley length.
“It shows how far he has come as a Test cricketer”. If England wins all the three Tests, then it will rise to 109 points (two behind Pakistan) while a 2-0 win will put it on 108 points (three behind Pakistan).
England’s own debutant James Vince made only a nervy nine before departing, and Ben Stokes’s 12 was a meagre improvement.
Hales, whose place had been under threat after struggling for consistency in the series win in South Africa, was measured in his approach en route to a Test-best 71 not out, while Bairstow (54no) went on the attack at his Headingley home.
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Soon, Bairstow completed his 145-ball century and survived a review for an lbw in the 79th over.
