Robson raises his bat after scoring his maiden Test century
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
England opening batsman Sam Robson dazzled the crowd at Headingley by scoring his maiden Test century before Sri Lanka fought back with late wickets on the second day of the second Test.
Robson was brilliantly supported by Gary Ballance, who made a superb 74, and Ian Bell, who struck an outstanding 64 in the first innings of his 100th Test.
Starting out the day on 36/0, England captain Alastair Cook and Robson only managed to add 13 runs to their 36-run partnership before Cook was caught behind off the bowling of Dhammika Prasad for 17.
Robson and Ballance made up for the early loss of Cook with a 142-run partnership, during which both batsmen brought up their half-centuries, before Ballance was caught behind off the bowling of Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews.
Ballance’s fantastic knock of 74 came off 157 balls and included eight boundaries.
Ballance struck his second consecutive half-century
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Robson and Bell, who is playing in his 100th Test, kept the runs flowing with an 87-run partnership, during which Robson brought up his maiden Test century, before he was clean bowled by Nuwan Pradeep for 127, which came off 253 deliveries and included 15 boundaries and a six.
Bell ended up scoring 64 off 90 balls, which included eight boundaries before he was caught behind off the bowling of Shaminda Eranga.
Bell scored an entertaining 64 in the first innings of his 100th Test
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Joe Root mustered 13 runs before he was caught behind off the bowling of Mathews.
Moeen Ali only made two runs before he was caught behind off the bowling of Eranga.
Wicketkeeper Matt Prior and pace bowler Chris Jordan put together an unbeaten seven-run partnership before the umpires decided to bring play to an end for the day.
Prior finished on three, while Jordan scored four runs.
Eranga and Mathews took two wickets apiece, while Pradeep and Prasad chipped in with one wicket each.
England ended day two on 320/6 and will continue batting tomorrow at 11:00 local time or 10:00 GMT.