Herath continues to tease Hales, who has settled into some sort of anchor role following his early flurry of boundaries. Very much of a binary over: 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0. The stand is worth 31, for those who are wondering. Let's have some drinks.

Bairstow is on the move, quite literally. First he's helping Hales grab one to get off strike, then there's two courtesy of a late cut that is only partially stopped by gully, and finally a hurried single to cover. I wonder what time he'd manage for the 60-yard dash.

Geoffrey Boycott
Ex-England batsman on BBC Test Match Special

"I would not go back to Bell at three. I would move forward with whoever the selectors judge to be the next man on the line. You know how I feel about Bell - I love his batting, I love his wife."

Close!published at 17:26 British Summer Time 11 June 2016

17:26 BST 11 June 2016

75-3 (lead by 203)

Well, close-ish. Bairstow works to leg and scampers a couple - he's so rapid even a direct hit from deep square leg isn't enough. With the field spread, he helps himself to two more to deep point. The lead now past 200.

Image source, PA

Runs, if not freely, are coming steadily for England at the moment, Hales and Bairstow happy to work the ball around and rotate the strike. The excitement of that collapse from 45-0 to 50-3 seems to have passed. Lakmal leaks a couple of singles as he strays on to the batsmen's pads.

Michael Vaughan
Ex-England captain on BBC Test Match Special

"I think Chris Woakes has got his nose in front of Steven Finn. He's in form, he looks confident, he looks like he's said to himself, 'I've got an opportunity and I'm going to take it.'"

Time for some spin. Rangana Herath, who took 4-81 from 36 overs in the first innings, gets his first twirl of the second dig. I wonder if the horrible swipe that cost Hales his wicket first time round is in his mind...? That watchfulness from the batsman suggests it is. A leg bye and a run off the over.

Michael Vaughan
Ex-England captain on BBC Test Match Special

"I don't understand why batsmen don't want to bat three. It's a beautiful spot - you can get your pads on straight away, but you get a bit of a look at what the pitch is doing."

There may have been a goal in a football match somewhere, judging by the cheers in the office. Some chap called Barry Gale, I think. Hales keeps the scoreboard ticking over with a leg-side single. Bairstow, on the back foot, does likewise with one through the slip cordon.

Pradeep to Bairstow, a short leg and two slips waiting. Another couple of cheap wickets and England will be getting nervous. Or are they already? If nothing else, it has brought some welcome competition to a series that has been largely one-sided. After a couple of singles, Bairstow steers the last ball of the over to third man - and the quickest man in the England team turns it into an all-run four.

Andrew Samson
BBC Test Match Special statistician

Image source, Getty Images

"England's number three and four (Compton and Root in the first innings, Root and Vince in the second) have contributed a total of eight runs. That's the lowest aggregate in any Test for England when three and four have batted in both innings."

I can see four - yes, four - bottles of bubbly perched on the railings in front of some very well turned out fans in the stand. But they're drinking it out of plastic glasses. How very un-Lord's. Hales and Bairstow grab a single apiece off Eranga. It's calming down a little.

Did you miss all that? Relive that astonishing top-order collapse here, although it doesn't make pretty viewing for England fans.

It's all gone a bit Red Bull at Lord's, wickets tumbling like kids at an ice rink. So much for that late-afternoon snooze for those weary MCC members. Bairstow collects a couple courtesy of a pushed drive through cover. Coolest man in the house.

Andrew Samson
BBC Test Match Special statistician

"James Vince finishes his first Test series with 54 runs at 13.5. And Joe Root finishes the series with 87 runs at 21.75 - the fewest runs he's ever scored in a Test series."

Image source, Getty Images

Sri Lanka are on the charge, England firmly on the ropes. An unthinkable scenario barely 15 minutes ago. Test cricket, I do love you. The uber-focused Bairstow, looking like Superman when he does his laser-eyed stare, is off the mark with a single to cover. Man. On. A. Mission. Super cricket, this.