Trailing England’s 298 all out after Jonny Bairstow’s century, the tourists really struggled early on in their innings, with Dimuth Karunaratne falling for a duck after Stuart Broad managed to get a ball to straighten off the pitch and catch the edge through to Jonny Bairstow.
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The former West Indies fast bowler also talks about the challenges of playing cricket in the cold.
Sri Lanka’s Dasun Shanaka (2nd left) celebrates with teammates after dismissing England captain …
England are hosting Sri Lanka for a three Tests, five One-Day Internationals and lone Twenty20 series.
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.
Mathews won the toss in overcast conditions reminiscent of those at Headingley two years ago when his side won the second Test to seal their first series win in England.
Bairstow dominated with 67 of them and went on to a richly-deserved 145-ball hundred, thanks to an overthrow from Kaushal Silva at cover for the two scurried runs still required – before raising his arms aloft in front of a delighted crowd on his home turf.
Seamer Dasun Shanaka took three wickets in two overs on debut to put England in trouble at 83-5, but Hales – 71 not out – and Bairstow – unbeaten with 54 – fought back. Nick Compton – whose anxieties can not have been aided by his team-mates’ struggles to impose themselves – poked with caution at a flawless off-stump line and length, to squeeze a low edge through to Lahiru Thirimanne at first slip. The cloud-cover didn’t last long as the sun shone brightly, making batting easy.
James Anderson (right) picked his first five-wicket haul at Headingley.
Hales showed the caution his colleagues lacked to steady the ship, and Bairstow continued his prolific county form with a fluent and aggressive display before rain brought play to a premature end. Moeen Ali and Broad both came and went, with Bairstow in danger of running out of partners before he got to three figures.
England confirmed their XI yesterday with James Vince coming in at No. 5 for his Test debut while Steven Finn has returned to the pace attack ahead of the uncapped Jake Ball.
Ben Stokes arrived in typically swashbuckling style and slapped three fours within five balls of the first over he faced.
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Bad light stopped play with Sri Lanka 1/0 following-on.
