England vs Sri Lanka report: Alex Hales digs deep with support from Jonny Bairstow to rescue team

England 171 for 5 - rain stopped play early

Alex Hales on the way to his 71 not out (Getty)

On a day that had looked destined to belong to Alastair Cook, it was Alex Hales, the England captain’s opening partner, who stole the show at Headingley.

Hales had come into this first Test against Sri Lanka under real pressure having averaged just 17 during his debut series in South Africa over the winter.

However, he finished a rain-truncated opening day in Leeds unbeaten on 71 after helping rebuild England’s innings from the depths of 83 for five shortly after lunch to 171 for five by the close, his 88-run sixth-wicket stand with Jonny Bairstow keeping England in this match.

From the moment Sri Lanka won the toss and asked England to bat, Cook’s pursuit of the 36 runs he needed to become the first Englishman to reach 10,000 in Tests became the overarching narrative.

However, such is sport, and life, predicting how things will turn out is fraught with difficulty and so it should have been no surprise that Cook fell 20 runs shy of his historic landmark, an uncharacteristic swish outside off stump seeing him edge debutant Dasun Shanaka behind.

Cook’s departure for 16, and to the seventh ball Shanaka had bowled in Test cricket, sparked a collapse that saw the rookie Sri Lankan all-rounder take three wickets in eight deliveries.

Nick Compton, edging to first slip, and Joe Root, caught at third driving without due care and attention, both followed for ducks as England slipped from 49 without loss to 51 for three on the first morning.

Yet Hales, who battled through a nervy opening, kept his head despite the further losses of James Vince and Ben Stokes after lunch and was 29 runs shy of a maiden Test century by the time the rain set in during the tea interval.

It was an innings that owed more to luck rather than judgement early on, with one edge through the vacant fourth slip region particularly fortunate.

At one point early in his innings, the Sri Lankans had five catchers behind the wicket in readiness for Hales’ next injudicious shot.

But he rode through the storm and by the time he had reached his half-century from 112 balls 50 minutes after lunch, he looked set to overhaul his previous Test high of 60 scored in Cape Town last winter.

Alastair Cook reacts after being caught out off the bowling of Dasun Shanaka (Getty)

That was as good as it got for Hales during England’s 2-1 series win in South Africa but decent form – including three successive centuries in the one-day series that followed – and England’s reluctance to try yet another opener alongside Cook saw him keep his place for this series.

The 27-year-old is Cook’s eighth partner since the retirement of Andrew Strauss in the autumn of 2012 and even though his technique still looks shaky in the longest form of the game, he showed the necessary fighting qualities required to succeed at this level.

With runs comes confidence and if Hales can nail his first Test hundred when play resumes in the morning it may go a long way to helping him succeed where those seven men before him failed.

Nick Compton is out for a duck after being caught off Dasun Shanaka's bowling (Getty)

Confidence is not something Bairstow is lacking right now, this unbeaten 54 – his seventh half-century in Tests – following his winter exploits in South Africa, where a maiden Test hundred in that Cape Town Test fired his self-belief.

The Yorkshireman has a crucial role to play alongside Hales on the second morning if England are to post a score in the region of 350.

That would probably put them in the driving seat against a Sri Lanka team whose batting line-up looks shaky in the absence of retired greats Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene.

Dasun Shanaka celebrates dismissing Joe Root for his third wicket of the day (Getty)

England’s, though, looked far from stable either as Shanaka, whose pace barely touched 75 miles-per-hour, caused panic in the home ranks with his deceptive dibbly-dobbly medium pace.

Compton, another whose place is under scrutiny, has done his claims to the No3 position no favours with his three-ball duck.

Vince, too, made an inauspicious start on his Test debut, as he fell for nine edging Shaminda Eranga to third slip.

Stokes followed, chipping Nuwan Pradeep to mid-on. 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 international summer.