Jonny Bairstow made the most of his good fortune to bail England out with his third Test century against Sri Lanka at Lord’s.
Bairstow finished the day unbeaten on 107 but was dropped on 11 and had a mighty close call for lbw against the unlucky Shaminda Eranga on 56.
However, the force is with him, and he continued his prolific form of the past 12 months to finish with his maiden hundred at HQ in a total of 279 for six.
England badly needed his runs, and those of captain Alastair Cook - who made 85 - having lost four wickets for 28 and appeared in danger of missing an obvious opportunity after choosing to bat first in ideal conditions.
They faltered to 84 for four, and would have been 102 for five had Eranga taken the straightforward chance chipped to midwicket by Bairstow off Nuwan Pradeep early in the afternoon.
The wicketkeeper-batsman left those fault lines behind, though, with 13 fours in his 160-ball hundred to put England in a position from which they can still hope to complete a 3-0 Investec Test series whitewash.
They lost Alex Hales, Nick Compton and Joe Root in the space of five balls to Suranga Lakmal, before James Vince departed too in an unexpected blip following an opening stand of 56.
There was no encouragement for Sri Lanka’s bowlers in the first hour of an increasingly sunny morning.
But the miserly Angelo Mathews brought himself on in an early holding role, and four straight maidens were enough for Hales to succumb.
He had gone 22 balls without scoring when he aimed a slog-sweep at the second delivery he received from Rangana Herath and edged a sharp catch to Mathews at slip in the spinner’s first over.
It was the fourth time in as many innings so far this summer that Hales has dealt with Sri Lanka’s seamers only to then fall to left-arm spin.
While he has runs in the bank, from the back-to-back wins at Headingley and Chester-le-Street, Compton badly needed a score on his home ground to re-establish his credentials.
It was not to be.
He could muster only a scampered single from 11 balls faced, before Lakmal found some late movement down the slope from a full length to have him caught-behind.
England’s incumbent number three may be running out of chances to cement his place, following his return to Test cricket last winter.
Worse was to follow for England, Root toppling over in search of runs off his pads and lbw - after a successful review - as Lakmal made his second spell count.
Vince, yet to get a proper start in his maiden series, soon went too - in a state of confusion after Pradeep took one up the slope to beat him on the back foot and dislodge the off-bail.
Cook appeared well on his way to a 29th Test hundred, in a stand of 80 with Bairstow, until Pradeep angled one into him from round the wicket to trap him and put England back in trouble at tea.
Bairstow then had two more close calls against Eranga.
He was reprieved when a review for lbw depicted a delivery that hit him on the back leg also clattering into leg-stump, but not quite blatantly enough to avoid umpire’s call; then two balls later, an inside-edge for four was barely an inch from a chop-on.
The wily Herath returned with an arm-ball to have Moeen Ali well caught at slip by Mathews.
But on a day when England made almost all their own trouble, Bairstow completed his century just before stumps in an unbroken half-century partnership with Chris Woakes.
It was personal retribution, at the ground where Bairstow fell five short of three figures for the first time in Tests against South Africa four years ago.
For England, it was a little more than they perhaps deserved to finish in the marginal ascendancy after a patchy collective performance.
Cook received a full-size silver bat, engraved with all his Test innings, in a presentation from the England and Wales Cricket Board before the start of play to mark his achievement as the first player from his country to reach 10,000 Test runs.
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What should do investors do now?
What does the S&P 500's new all-time high mean for the average investor?
Should I be euphoric?
No. It's fine to be pleased about hearty returns on your investments. But it's not a good idea to tie your emotions closely to the ups and downs of the stock market. You'll get tired fast. This market moment comes on the heels of last year's nosedive. And it's not the first or last time the stock market will make a dramatic move.
So what happened?
It's more about what happened last year. Many of the concerns that triggered that plunge towards the end of last have largely been quelled. The US and China are slowly moving toward a trade agreement. The Federal Reserve has indicated it likely will not raise rates at all in 2019 after seven recent increases. And those changes, along with some strong earnings reports and broader healthy economic indicators, have fueled some optimism in stock markets.
"The panic in the fourth quarter was based mostly on fears," says Brent Schutte, chief investment strategist for Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company. "The fundamentals have mostly held up, while the fears have gone away and the fears were based mostly on emotion."
Should I buy? Should I sell?
Maybe. It depends on what your long-term investment plan is. The best advice is usually the same no matter the day — determine your financial goals, make a plan to reach them and stick to it.
"I would encourage (investors) not to overreact to highs, just as I would encourage them not to overreact to the lows of December," Mr Schutte says.
All the same, there are some situations in which you should consider taking action. If you think you can't live through another low like last year, the time to get out is now. If the balance of assets in your portfolio is out of whack thanks to the rise of the stock market, make adjustments. And if you need your money in the next five to 10 years, it shouldn't be in stocks anyhow. But for most people, it's also a good time to just leave things be.
Resist the urge to abandon the diversification of your portfolio, Mr Schutte cautions. It may be tempting to shed other investments that aren't performing as well, such as some international stocks, but diversification is designed to help steady your performance over time.
Will the rally last?
No one knows for sure. But David Bailin, chief investment officer at Citi Private Bank, expects the US market could move up 5 per cent to 7 per cent more over the next nine to 12 months, provided the Fed doesn't raise rates and earnings growth exceeds current expectations. We are in a late cycle market, a period when US equities have historically done very well, but volatility also rises, he says.
"This phase can last six months to several years, but it's important clients remain invested and not try to prematurely position for a contraction of the market," Mr Bailin says. "Doing so would risk missing out on important portfolio returns."
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Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
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Power: 509hp @ 6,000rpm; 601hp @ 7,500rpm
Torque: 695Nm @ 2,000rpm; 760Nm @ 3,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.9L / 100km; 11.6L / 100km
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