Bairstow century continues England fightback

Lunch England 243 for 8 (Bairstow 103*, Finn 3*) v Sri LankaLive scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Jonny Bairstow brought up his second Test century, and his first on his home ground at Headingley, as England continued their fightback on the second morning of the first Test against Sri Lanka. However, with Alex Hales falling short in his own quest for three figures, Sri Lanka battled back with three wickets in the second hour of the session, and will be armed with a brand-new ball when play resumes after lunch.

Continuing the theme that Hales and Bairstow had established on the first afternoon, the pair extended their sixth-wicket stand to 141 to banish the memories of England’s top-order wobble, when five wickets had tumbled for 34 runs. Bairstow was once again the aggressor, as befits a man in supreme form on his Yorkshire home ground – his last two innings at the venue have been 246 and 198.

Bairstow outscored his partner by three to one throughout their morning resumption, capitalising on too much width as both Sri Lanka openers, Shaminda Eranga and Nuwan Pradeep, offered opportunities to fillet the third-man boundary. He did enjoy one clear moment of good fortune however, on 70, when Pradeep failed to gather a sharp return catch to his right, as Bairstow scuffed a drive back down the track.

At the other end, Hales wound his neck in and banished all risk from his game as he set his sights on the remaining 29 runs he needed for his maiden Test century. It was a grind, as he routinely refused to chase anything outside his …

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