England’s Gus Atkinson continued his remarkable Lord’s legacy, claiming five wickets as the hosts thrashed Sri Lanka by 190 runs in the second Test on Sunday. This emphatic victory secured an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Sri Lanka faced an insurmountable task of chasing down a record-breaking 483 in the fourth innings. Despite valiant efforts from Dinesh Chandimal (58), Dimuth Karunaratne (55), and captain Dhananjaya de Silva (50), they were dismissed for 292 after tea on the fourth day.
Atkinson, who had earlier scored his maiden first-class century in England’s first innings, led the bowling attack with an impressive 5-62. His performance earned him a fifth mention on the Lord’s dressing room honors boards in just his second Test at the iconic venue.
Atkinson’s heroics made him only the third England cricketer after Tony Greig and Ian Botham to score a century and take five wickets in an innings of the same Test. He also joined India’s Vinoo Mankad and Botham as the only players to achieve this feat at Lord’s.
The 26-year-old Surrey paceman’s latest impressive return helped England seal a seventh successive win over Sri Lanka. This victory followed their five-wicket success in the first Test at Old Trafford.
“To get on both honors boards is incredible,” Atkinson said after the match. “It will take a while to sink in.”
This game was also a personal triumph for England captain Joe Root. For the first time in his 145 Test matches, Root scored centuries in both innings (143 and 103), setting a new record of 34 Test centuries by an England batsman.
Sri Lanka have little time to regroup before the third Test at The Oval, which starts on Friday. De Silva admitted that he had made a mistake in opting to field on a good batting pitch after winning the toss.
“Definitely. I got it wrong,” he told the BBC. “We have got to improve on the first innings whether we bat or bowl first, that’s what I will be telling my boys is that we’ve got to start better.”
Sri Lanka resumed Sunday on 53-2, with the odds stacked against them. However, Root dropped a tough chance to dismiss Karunaratne, who went on to score a half-century.
Olly Stone, in his first Test for three years, dismissed Karunaratne shortly before lunch. Chandimal counter-attacked with a quickfire fifty, but Atkinson had him caught at short leg.
Kamindu Mendis, who had scored a century in the first Test, fell for just four on Sunday. De Silva and Milan Rathnayake were also dismissed by Atkinson, who completed his five-wicket haul.
Chris Woakes had the final say when Lahiru Kumara holed out to Stone at mid-on.
