Kevin Pietersen implored England to entertain him on his day out at Lord’s but he had to wait before Gary Ballance gloriously granted his wish by responding to the most testing situation with a maiden Test century of rare class.
The sacked star sat in a hospitality box like a modern day Roman emperor in judgment on the new era as Ballance came to England’s rescue on a fourth day of this Investec series that displayed Test cricket in all its glorious unpredictability.
For much of the day Pietersen had watched Sri Lanka threaten to pull off an extraordinary first Test victory but he was nowhere to be seen when Ballance swung the spin of Rangana Herath high towards his Grandstand vantage point to reach his hundred with a six off the first ball of the day’s final over.