Cricket – Gus Atkinson took five wickets to get himself on the Lord’s honours board for the second time in the match as England sealed a comprehensive 190-run win over Sri Lanka yesterday, taking an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-test series.
England’ newest superstar followed his swashbuckling first innings century with figures of 5-62 in Sri Lanka’s second as the visitors ultimately crumbled to 292 all out despite a spirited counterattack on the fourth day.
Set a massive 483 to win and resuming on 53-2 overnight, Sri Lanka’s task looked all but impossible. Their approach was to ignore the match situation and attack, ensuring a steady flow of wickets and boundaries over the course of a fourth day that at times resembled a limited-overs contest.
The morning session cost the visitors only nightwatchman Prabath Jayasuriya (4) and Dimuth Karunaratne (55). Karunaratne made the first half century by an opener in the series, striking Atkinson for three fours in one over before fending a lifter from Olly Stone through to wicketkeeper Jamie Smith.
Angelo Mathews (36) had looked typically assured after the lunch interval before chipping a catch to Chris Woakes at mid on from the bowling of Shoaib Bashir.
England’s new frontline spinner had endured a tricky start to the day, leaking boundaries as Sri Lanka tried to hit him out of the attack.
At the other end of his career, the 35-year-old Woakes was typically metronomic on his favourite hunting ground, sending down seven maiden overs to give England a measure of control.
Dinesh Chandimal (58) appeared to be next out, trapped lbw by Woakes having raced to a half century off just 42 balls, but a review showed the thinnest of edges. He went soon after, caught by Dan Lawrence at short leg as a thick edge from an Atkinson rocket ballooned off the pad.
One strange subplot of the series has been Sri Lanka’s refusal to promote their most effective batsman so far, Kamindu Mendis, up the order.
He came to the crease with little chance of affecting the result at 192-6. A star in the making with an astonishing average of 92 in his four-test career thus far, he for once failed, slashing Atkinson to Ben Duckett in the slips to depart for just four as England broke through to the tail.
Captain Dhananjaya de Silva (50) and Milan Rathnayake (43) then cut and hooked England’s short ball barrage on their way to a punchy eighth-wicket stand of 73.
That was as good as it got for Sri Lanka however, as Rathnayake swung once too often at a short ball to give Atkinson his fifth before Woakes induced Lahiru Kumara to sky one and end proceedings.
The home side’s commanding position in the match had been built on back-to-back centuries by Joe Root, who became the country’s all-time top scorer of hundreds in tests with his 34th in the second innings.
One sore point for the game’s administrators was the somewhat sparse crowd, with Lord’s only half full to see England close in on a series victory in the September sunshine.
The third and final test of the Sri Lanka series starts on September 6 at the Oval, with the visitors hoping to avoid a 3-0 whitewash.
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