Atkinson seals England series win over Sri Lanka

Second Test, Lord's (day 4 of five)

England 427 (Root 143, Atkinson 118; A Fernando 5-102) & 251 (Root 103)

Sri Lanka 196 (Kamindu 74) & 292 (Chandimal 58, Karunaratne 55, Dhananjaya 50; Atkinson 5-62)

England won by 190 runs; lead three-match bid 2-0

Scorecard

Gus Atkinson’s five-wicket haul yet collapsed Sri Lanka’s guidance to springiness England triumph successful nan 2nd Test and nan bid pinch a lucifer to spare.

After making his maiden 100 successful nan first innings, Atkinson became only nan 3rd England subordinate to people a period and return 5 wickets successful a Test, and first since Lord Botham successful 1984.

In beforehand of a sparse fourth-day crowd astatine Lord’s, nan location broadside were held up by half-centuries from Dimuth Karunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal and skipper Dhananjaya de Silva.

England had nan luxury of a upland of runs – Sri Lanka were chasing a grounds 483 to triumph – but had to flooded immoderate benign conditions, belated exertion from nan visitors and 2 Joe Root dropped catches.

The visitors battled past tea, erstwhile Atkinson grasped nan 2nd caller shot to hustle done nan tail. He ended pinch 5-62 to time off Sri Lanka 292 each retired and beaten by 190 runs.

The triumph is England’s 5th successful succession and gives them a 2nd bid triumph of nan summer, pursuing nan 3-0 cleanable expanse against West Indies successful July.

For Sri Lanka, this is simply a first conclusion successful six visits to Lord’s, pursuing 5 draws stretching backmost to 2002.

The last Test astatine The Oval originates connected Friday, pinch England looking for their first 100% Test summertime since they earned 7 wins successful 2004.

This was different regular triumph successful a highly successful summertime for nan revamped England team. Here they absorbed a further injury, this clip to Mark Wood, pinch Olly Stone returning and fitting into a squad that is looking beardown successful astir areas.

The down broadside for nan hosts were nan deficiency of runs for makeshift opener Dan Lawrence and stand-in skipper Ollie Pope, who has been incapable to show he tin harvester activity pinch contributing astatine number three.

Sri Lanka whitethorn regret their determination to vessel first aft winning nan toss, yet nan bully batting conditions precocious into nan crippled showed nan visitors whitethorn person been connected to something.

Ultimately, Sri Lanka were beaten by their mediocre show pinch nan bat successful nan first innings, Atkinson’s all-round brilliance and copy hundreds of years from Root, nan 2nd of which took him to an England grounds 34 tons.

The electrical ambiance erstwhile Root reached his historical milestone connected Saturday was successful opposition to swathes of quiet seats connected Sunday.

Some will constituent to nan costs of tickets. The cheapest big introduction was £95 and it is existent that watching Test cricket tin beryllium prohibitively expensive, not only astatine Lord’s.

Perhaps location is besides a reluctance to put successful fourth-day tickets erstwhile astir of England’s Tests this summertime person been one-sided.

It raises questions whether nan English game, and different world powerhouses Australia and India, are doing capable to protect Test cricket. The large nations cannot simply play each other, truthful must do each they tin to guarantee arsenic galore teams arsenic imaginable are competitory successful nan longer format.

England’s push for triumph was delayed by bad ray connected nan 3rd evening. As Sri Lanka began Sunday connected 53-2, an improbable 430 runs adrift, nan mobility was not if England would win, but when.

The hosts were initially held up by opener Karunaratne and nightwatchman Prabath Jayasuriya. England grounded pinch 2 reviews against Karunaratne, while Root dropped nan aforesaid batter astatine first gaffe disconnected Atkinson.

With small assistance for nan bowlers, Pope shuffled his attack, adjusted his section to sometimes employment arsenic galore arsenic 8 catchers, and asked Stone to vessel spells of bouncers.

Chris Woakes drew Jayasuriya into an separator to 2nd slip, only for Chandimal to get and adhd 55 pinch Karunaratne, past different 59 pinch Angelo Mathews.

Though Stone’s hostility was rewarded pinch Karunaratne’s tickle down nan limb side, Chandimal was aggressive, particularly against off-spinner Shoaib Bashir. Chandimal’s 42-ball half-century was his quickest successful Tests.

But aft Mathews patted Bashir to mid-off, Atkinson sewage nan large wicket of Chandimal, caught astatine short leg. When nan in-form Kamindu Mendis flashed nan aforesaid bowler to 2nd slip, nan crippled seemed up.

Sri Lanka dug successful erstwhile more. Dhananjaya recovered support from Milan Rathnayake, nan number 9 bravely coming done a rustle to nan helmet disconnected Stone to adhd 73 for nan eighth wicket.

England took nan 2nd caller ball, Root put down a straightforward Rathnayake separator disconnected Atkinson, truthful nan bowler alternatively deed nan stumps disconnected Dhananjaya’s toed end.

Atkinson took nan bottommost separator of nan swiping Rathnayake to subordinate Botham and Tony Grieg arsenic nan only England men to do nan hundred-five-wicket double successful nan aforesaid Test, past Woakes had Lahiru Kumara entity to mid-on to decorativeness it.