Friday 23 November 2018 12:34, UK
Bullish Bairstow, Sri Lanka's review mayhem and a dog stops play. Here's how day one of the third Test panned out in Colombo...
SCORECARD | AS IT HAPPENED | HIGHLIGHTS
Jonny Bairstow marked his return to the England side with his sixth Test century as the tourists enjoyed the better of day one of the third Test, writes Sam Drury.
With England eyeing a 3-0 series whitewash in Colombo, Bairstow, batting at No 3, put on 100 with Joe Root (46) for the third wicket and then 99 with Ben Stokes (57) for the fourth.
Not 'dog stops play'. For pure emotion, Bairstow's roar-some hundred celebration has no match - the release of his pent-up passion understandable after losing his Test spot for the opening two matches of the series, and with it the gloves for the foreseeable future, to Ben Foakes after sustaining an ankle injury while playing football.
The Yorkshireman's passion was plain for all to see as he set off to complete his hundredth run, removing his helmet and yelling 'yes', the air taking a punching too before discarding his bat unceremoniously to the turf and bumping fists with Ben Stokes then hugging the all-rounder. England have a new No 3.
Bairstow - the sixth player to bat at No 3 for England this year - is the first batsman to score a century in that problem position since Joe Root in Rajkot two years ago.
Without question, it's time for Sri Lanka to look again at their review policy. Having burnt through their allocated two in the morning session - the second for a rather ridiculous lbw shot against Joe Root, led by Niroshan Dickwella who, not for the first time, rather led his skipper up the garden path.
Had the hosts received five reviews at the start of the day, the suspicion is they may have spurned as many with over-hasty referrals, such was the rudderless way Lakmal sought opinion from his key informers before sending matters upstairs. And how it cost Sri Lanka - Stokes trapped palpably lbw on nought but not given, the most noticeable example, with Bairstow also a beneficiary on 103.
JONNY BAIRSTOW: "The hundred means a lot. You get castigated about being injured, X, Y and Z and people don't actually what has gone on behind the scenes. Doing your rehab, sleeping on an ice machine. It's the hidden things that they don't see."
ROB KEY: "The only thing about Bairstow proving a point, is that his point is that he wants to be the wicketkeeper - but he's almost proving against his point by going out and getting runs at number three, because you can't see the selectors making him number three and the wicketkeeper.
"The only ways I thought he might get the gloves back was if Foakes had a shocker or if he proved he couldn't get runs batting at three without the gloves."
MAHELA JAYAWARDENE: "It was a brilliant knock and showed character. Whatever frustrations he had he put that in the right direction. All that negative energy he may have felt in the last two weeks boiled up and come out in a positive way."
Watch day two of the third Test between Sri Lanka and England live on Sky Sports Cricket from 4.15am.
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