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In his first summer as an England Test cricketer, Gus Atkinson produced a fifth performance worthy of the Lord’s honours boards, adding a second-inning five-for to his first hundred as the second Test eventually shattered Sri Lanka’s resistance.
The touring team, having set an improbable goal of 483 to salvage the series, produced a valiant effort in the fourth innings to try and stave off a first-ever Test defeat at Lord’s since 1991. Vijay Karunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal, and Dhananjaya de Silva all made heroic half-centuries, while Milan Rathnayake, in just his second Test, showed even more tenacious lower-order resistance. However, they lost by 190 runs in just four days, so they were ultimately soundly defeated.
As an all-rounder, Atkinson’s performances also made him a select company; he is only the third player for England Men to hit a century and take five wickets in one Test.
In order to secure a 2-0 lead in the series and their sixth straight Test victory this summer, England needed to take eight wickets upon their return on Sunday morning. They had to work hard for it, as Sri Lanka’s hitters put in a lot of effort and were supported by Chris Woakes, Olly Stone, and Shoaib Bashir in addition to Atkinson.
Even though it didn’t appear possible to chase 483 to win, they had a chance to force a fifth day of play. The message, according to Dhananjaya, was to “bat simple and bat long.” Karunaratne’s first fifty of the series set the tone during the morning session, as Sri Lanka lost just two wickets, Prabath Jayasuriya being one of them.
After Karunaratne put in 129 balls for his fifty-five, Stone removed him from the game. Chandimal then picked up the ball and smashed a fifty off 43 balls either side of lunch. After tea, Dhananjaya scored his own fifty and displayed his usual composure while building up the highest partnership of the innings with Rathnayake. However, the end was in sight when he proceeded to bat against Atkinson with the second new ball.
After Chandimal hit 11 boundaries in his nervous innings, Atkinson eventually ended it with a bat-pad catch at short leg. In his subsequent over, Kamindu Mendis struck again, sending a drive to third slip.
The day continued into a third session when Dhananjaya and Rathnayake put up yet another obstacle, just as they had done in the first innings at Old Trafford. After being caught by Joe Root at slip off Atkinson, who appeared to be cruising towards his second fifty-plus score in as many Tests, Rathnayake showed courage by taking on Stone’s short-ball attack. Woakes’ slower ball then put an end to the innings.