Eng v SL 1st Test, Day 2 Review: England hammer Lankans into the ground

While Day 1 of the first Test at Headingley saw England crumble to the pace of the Sri Lankan pacers, Day 2 was a completely different story. Having lost half their side for a score of under 100, Alex Hales and Jonny Bairstow steadied the ship as they reached their half-centuries after weathering the storm.

The second day commenced with Hales and Bairstow once again facing up to the might of the Lankan pace attack. The overcast conditions and the seaming wicket ensured that it would indeed be a difficult situation for the batsmen. They resumed their innings on 171/5 and soon began to torment the Lankan bowling with some genuine shot making. After adding slightly over 50 runs, Alex Hales fell prey to the guile of Rangana Herath. The left-arm orthodox spinner tossed picked up his first wicket of the match as Alex Hales was clearly beaten by the flight, lofting the ball straight into the hands of Dushmantha Chameera out in the deep.

Moeen Ali’s torrid form against pace bowling continued as he was snapped up by Chameera himself a few minuted after the dismissal of Hales. He was caught at short leg for naught. Chameera however, wasn’t done with his fine bowling performance. The very next over saw Chameera breach the defenses of Stuart Broad to ensure that his off stump went for a walk. With just 233 runs on the board and 8 wickets down, Jonny Bairstow took an executive decision. He was going to go all chips in, complete his well-deserved century and then take stock.

Joined by Steven Finn, Bairstow began to turn on the heat. Slowly but surely, the aggressive nature to his batting came to the fore as he cut, pulled, and hooked the Lankan bowlers to all parts of Headingley. He added 56 runs along with Finn for the 9^th wicket. In the process, Bairstow completed his century and went on to score a healthy 140 before becoming Chameera’s third victim. Steve Finn was stumped after he too was beaten by the flight of the wily Rangana Herath. The England innings eventually closed for 298 just after the lunch interval.

If the Lankans were happy, their mood was to change rather drastically. In addition, Bairstow hadn’t completed his all-round catching performance. The Lankans came out to bat with the prospect of facing the likes of James Anderson, Stuart Broad, and Steven Finn. It was Broad who drew first blood when Dimuth Karunaratne edged the final delivery of the third over to Jonny Bairstow to give England their first wicket. Incidentally, the score after 24 deliveries was naught. His partner-in-crime James Anderson got in on the act by removing Kusal Silva before Broad struck again, picking the important wicket of Kusal Mendis. Both wickets were caught behind with Bairstow completing both catches.

The score was 12/3 when two of the best Lankan batsmen, Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal joined each other with their side in dire straits.

The duo weathered the storm till the tea break as they played with complete caution, putting the oddball away to the boundary. However, the first ball after the tea break saw Dinesh Chandimal make his way back into the dressing room, gifting James Vince his first ever Test catch at third slip. The next ten overs saw Angelo Mathews preserve his wicket under what seemed to be immense pressure. Lahiru Thirimanne also joined in as they weathered the storm together. However, their resistance would last for just 10 overs as James Anderson was back into the action once again. Although it was questionable, a plumb delivery from Anderson saw Mathews miss the ball completely as he was sent back for being adjudged leg-before.

Ben Stokes took just the one wicket of Dinesh Chandimal as the rest of the wickets were picked up by the impressive Broad and Anderson. It was perhaps the best piece of swing bowling ever seen. Needless to say, Anderson completed his spell with figures of 5/16 as the Lankans were bowled out for 91, 207 runs behind. Cook enforced the follow-on as the Lankans made their way to bat for the second time in the day. Bad light however, saved them fro yet another Jimmy Anderson onslaught.

Brief Scores: Day 2

England 1^st innings: 298 all out (J Bairstow 140; D Shanaka 3/46)

Sri Lanka 1^st innings: 91 all out (A Mathews 34; J Anderson 5/16)

Sri Lanka 2^nd innings: 1/0 at stumps