500 after following on, and seven fifties in an innings

After the first two days at Lord's, no-one gave Sri Lanka a chance of going into the second Test with honours still even, but that was before their batsmen decided to show just what they are capable of. The Sri Lankan second-innings total of 537 for 9 was only the tenth occasion in the history of Test cricket when a team scored more than 500 after following on. Eight of those matches - including this one - ended in draws. The only two instances of decisive results both involved India: in 1967 they scored 510 and lost, while Australia were at the receiving end - quite famously - at Kolkata in 2000-01.

What's even more admirable is that Sri Lanka's second-innings display wasn't the result of just a couple of players putting their hands up. While Mahela Jayawardene did show the way with a patient and classy 119, almost everyone else did their bit as well - there were seven fifty-plus scores in the innings, only the third time that this has happened in Test cricket.

Sri Lanka's unexpected resistance meant plenty of work for England's bowlers, who sent down 199 overs in the second innings. More than 25% came from one bowler - their captain, Andrew Flintoff, who bowled 51 overs for his two wickets. It was only the seventh instance, since 1990, of a fast bowler bowling 50 or more overs in an innings. Merv Dillon is the only one to have toiled through more than fifty overs twice.