Gus Atkinson’s love affair with Lord’s continued as his five-wicket haul lifted England to a fifth successive Test win of the summer and a series success over Sri Lanka.
England won by 190 runs
Gus Atkinson’s love affair with Lord’s continued as his five-wicket haul lifted England to a fifth successive Test win of the summer and a series success over Sri Lanka.
Having already put his name on all three honours boards in just two outings at the home of cricket, Atkinson’s five for 62 helped bundle out Sri Lanka for 292 as the hosts won the second Test by 190 runs.
Chris Woakes and Olly Stone each chipped in with a couple of wickets as England remained on course for a clean sweep of Test wins for the first time since 2004, having claimed a first triumph over Sri Lanka at Lord’s in 33 years.
Half-centuries from Dimuth Karunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal and Dhananjaya de Silva all held up Ollie Pope and his team, who needed eight wickets on the penultimate day, but they seemed to be merely delaying the inevitable.
Half-century for Karunaratne 👏
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) September 1, 2024
Sri Lanka 88-3 🇱🇰 pic.twitter.com/w3uoVoPI3q
The one disappointment on a warm, sunny day was the sparse crowd. While tickets for under-16s were just £15, the cheapest available for adults turning up on Sunday morning to watch England claim a first win in six attempts over these opponents at this ground – after five draws – were priced at £95.
Atkinson made light of the low turnout just a couple of days after registering his maiden first-class century. Having shone against the Windies here in July, he is one of only six players who have taken five wickets in an innings, 10 in a match and made a century at the home of cricket.
It was initially a subdued start for England as while Chris Woakes snaffled the edge of nightwatcher Prabath Jayasuriya, Joe Root spilled a difficult head-high chance when Karunaratne was on 25.
England also unsuccessfully reviewed not out verdicts against the opener twice, and while there was a hint of variable bounce early on, there was precious little else for the seamers to work with.
Stone was therefore deployed as a short-ball battering ram and he was rewarded as his extra zip got one to lift off the surface and tickle Karunaratne’s glove as he tried to fend off underneath his armpit.
Big breakthrough for England! 🏴
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) September 1, 2024
A quicker bowl at 87mph from Stone catches Karunaratne out ❌ pic.twitter.com/oL41vAnhCt
After seeing off Karunaratne for 55, Stone dug another one in to Chandimal, who got off nought with a periscope single before the former Sri Lanka captain went on the attack either side of lunch.
He contributed 51 to a 59-run stand with Angelo Mathews, who grafted unobtrusively for 36 only to suddenly grind to a halt. After soaking up 19 successive dots, the pressure finally told as he skewed uppishly to wide mid-off to give Shoaib Bashir his first wicket.
Chandimal, who flicked unwittingly over the slips to reach a 42-ball half-century, was saved by a faint inside edge after being given out on 55 but he added just three more before flicking on to his pad off Atkinson, with Pope vindicated for putting in a short-leg as Dan Lawrence took an easy catch.
Kamindu Mendis has been the biggest batting thorn in England’s side in this series but he lasted five balls before throwing his hands at Atkinson from round the wicket, with Ben Duckett taking the edge.
"To get on both honours boards is incredible, it'll take a while to sink in" 🥰
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) September 1, 2024
Player of the match Gus Atkinson reacts to a superb personal outing at Lord's 🙌 pic.twitter.com/Ef8dBbBe1K
There was no quick finish, though, and while Stone sconed Milan Rathnayake in the helmet, the batter had his revenge with three fours in an over off the quick.
England burned their final review on Rathnayake, with Bashir’s delivery sliding down leg to continue Pope’s luckless use of DRS – in his eight reviews, he is yet to overturn the on-field decision.
Dan Lawrence’s unorthodox off-spin was given an airing before England took the new ball after tea, with Root grassing his second of the day off Atkinson and third of the Test to reprieve Rathnayake on 33.
Atkinson took the fielders out of the equation as Dhananjaya under-edged on to his stumps for 50 while the Surrey man had his five-for when Rathnayake got a tickle on an attempted pull through to Smith.
Woakes claimed the final wicket and a comprehensive England win in the next over when Lahiru Kumara spooned to Stone at mid-on.