By Tom Fordyce

(BBC) – Jonny Bairstow’s second century of the series helped England recover from another top-order collapse to reach 279-6 on day one of the third Test with Sri Lanka.Bairstow once again helped rescue England’s flaky batting as he hit an unbeaten 107 at a sun-kissed Lord’s.
Together with 85 from skipper Alastair Cook, Bairstow’s third ton in six Tests dragged the hosts out of a hole in near-perfect conditions for batting.
Rash strokeplay mixed with disciplined bowling from Sri Lanka had reduced Cook’s men to 84-4 just after lunch.
But Bairstow profited from a dropped catch and then the most marginal of lbw decisions to continue his wonderful early summer run of form.
Not since beating India 4-0 in the summer of 2011 have England whitewashed a Test opponent in a series of three or more matches.
And while the weather forecast for the remainder of the match is uncertain, Bairstow’s fightback has given them a hold in a contest that had been drifting Sri Lanka’s way.
While England have improved both in style and substance over the course of the last year, serious flaws remain – and the vulnerability of the top order is the most pressing of all.
On a true pitch and under benign skies, they once again lost key wickets cheaply – four this time for 28 runs, having chosen to bat and looked completely untroubled in the first hour of play.
First Alex Hales lost patience, having been kept runless for 22 balls, heaving unnecessarily at Rangana Herath to send a looping edge to Angelo Mathews at slip.
Then Nick Compton, mired in a horrible trot of form and seemingly bereft of confidence, chased a wide half-volley and edged Suranga Lakmal behind for just one.
Nick Compton has scored 277 runs in 12 innings since returning to the England Test side
Joe Root followed four runs later, pinned lbw by the same bowler after the initial not-out decision was correctly overturned by the third umpire, and when James Vince had his bail removed by Nuwan Pradeep for 10 just after lunch, England had slumped from 56-0 to 84-4.
Compton’s dismissal was the most chastening of all: to a ball that should have been routinely driven away for four, greeted by a ghastly silence from the near-capacity crowd, followed by a slow walk back to the old pavilion – Lord’s suddenly the loneliest place in London.