Anderson shines as England dominate at Headingley

James Anderson claimed his first five-wicket haul at Headingley as England seized control of the first Test against Sri Lanka.

Ably assisted by Stuart Broad, Anderson (5-16) ripped through Sri Lanka’s batting order on a gloomy day two in Leeds, taking his final four wickets for just one run to bowl out the tourists for 91 before Alastair Cook enforced the follow-on.

Bad light denied England the chance to take any second innings wickets as Sri Lanka closed on 1-0, still trailing by 206 with three days to play.

Anderson’s sensational display came after Jonny Bairstow had enhanced his growing reputation as a Test-level wicketkeeper-batsman with a superb 140 on his home ground, the Yorkshireman’s second Test century guiding England to a total of 298.

Any frustration England felt at failing to pass 300 quickly disappeared as Sri Lanka struggled to cope with Broad (4-21) and Anderson, the hosts’ premier seamers snaring nine wickets between them.

Bairstow led the charge at the start of play on Friday, his efforts taking England past 200 and his partnership with Alex Hales past 100.

He was given a let off on 70, though, as Nuwan Pradeep (1-56) dropped a catch off his own bowling – a mistake he was made to rue.

The runs continued to flow for Bairstow and he eventually brought his century up off 145 balls, albeit with an element of luck as he profited from a wayward shy at the stumps, the batsmen running two overthrows to take England’s number seven to three figures.

Eventually Bairstow was dismissed for 140 as England fell just short of the 300 mark, but he was back involved as Sri Lanka stuttered in their reply – Dimuth Karunaratne (0) and Kaushal Silva (11) both giving easy catches to the wicketkeeper.

Broad and Anderson were revelling in the overcast conditions, and the former was too good for Kusal Mendis (0) as he picked up a second wicket in three balls to leave the tourists 12-3 – Bairstow taking another catch on his way to five dismissals.

Angelo Mathews (34) and Dinesh Chandimal (15) were able to steady the ship somewhat before tea, but England’s seam attack were firmly in the ascendancy and Ben Stokes (1-25) removed the latter with the first ball of the final session.

Anderson then took centre stage to remove Mathews, Dasun Shanaka (0), Rangana Herath (1) and Shaminda Eranga (1) to record his best figures at Headingley, while Broad’s pace forced poor shots from Dushmantha Chameera (2) and Lahiru Thirimanne (22).

Deteriorating light denied England the chance to take any wickets in Sri Lanka’s second innings, but the tourists will were left to reflect on a dreadful day with the bat that only served to further highlight the glaring absence of retired duo Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara.