It was Anderson’s 438th test wicket and the 15th and last wicket of the day, with the players taken off after just two balls of Sri Lanka’s second innings.
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Most eyes were on Cook, of course, at the start of this series which will be the first subject to the points system by which the England and Wales Cricket Board has announced they will find an overall victor across all formats this summer. But there was no maiden Test century for Nottinghamshire opener Hales.
The other England batsmen back in the stands are debutant James Vince and all-rounder Ben Stokes who hardly troubled the scoreboard.
England captain Alastair Cook needs just 36 more runs to become the first Englishman to reach 10,000 in Tests.
The partnership was broken when Rangana Herath (2-25) had Hales caught at deep extra cover in the 73rd over.
First, Angelo Mathews was beaten on the defence for lbw – a decision which would have been overturned on impact had he gone to DRS.
Sri Lanka have handed a Test debut to 24-year-old allrounder Dasun Shanaka who made a century against Leicestershire.
But Hales and Bairstow, who successfully reviewed an lbw decision given against him on 40, ensured there was no further damage on an eventful first day of the worldwide summer.
On the eve of the first Investec Test against Sri Lanka, starting at Headingley on Thursday, England and Wales Cricket Board director Andrew Strauss confirmed the new points system is to be adopted.
England will aim to narrow the gap with third-ranked Pakistan while Sri Lanka will target moving ahead of sixth-ranked South Africa in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings during the Test series between the two countries. England enforced the follow-on with a lead of 207 runs.
England’s opening batsman Alex Hales has admitted that he was forced to alter parts of his game prior to today’s first Test getting underway against Sri Lanka.
By tea, however, Hales and Bairstow had provided their team with a steadying hand, as a forecast rain shower swept in from the Pennines to delay the resumption of play.
Chameera then claimed two wickets in one over, having Moeen Ali caught at short leg for a duck and bowling Stuart Broad for two.
At one stage, Shanaka had figures of 3-6 off three overs.
Hales played with great determination for his highest score in test cricket, and just his second half-century. Bairstow’s 183-ball innings, including 13 fours and a six, ended when he holed out off Chameera to Pradeep at mid-on.
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“Until you get the call, you never know, do you?” said Vince, who has scored 275 runs at 39.28 this season for Hampshire, including his 119 against Yorkshire at Headingley last month.
