England storms to a series victory
Day two of the second Test match between Sri Lanka and England at Lord's saw England dominate completely, and Gus Atkinson added a maiden century to cap off an incredible start to his career.After becoming the first England number eight to reach a century in Test cricket in 11 years, Atkinson took 12 wickets in his debut match against the West Indies on this field last month. He then joined a quartet of pacers that completely destroyed Sri Lanka’s top order.
In just his fifth Test match, the 26-year-old required 22 deliveries on Friday morning to go from an overnight 74 to his first-ever century in the professional game.
Atkinson has scored 118 runs in Test cricket; only two other England number eights have scored more. Milan Rathnayake’s amazing diving catch was required to remove him from the game as part of the home team’s 427 all out.
Under ideal circumstances, Sri Lanka ought to have made England work hard, but they gave in to some extremely fast bowling.
In his first Test match in over three years, Olly Stone claimed two wickets in an over, and Matthew Potts delivered the same devastating blow as Sri Lanka collapsed from 83-3 to 87-6.
Kamindu Mendis, who had made a century in the first Test, provided resistance with a resolute 74. His was the final wicket to fall, leaving Sri Lanka 231 behind at 196 all out.
Dan Lawrence was upset about being caught behind for seven when England decided not to pursue the follow-on.
Ben Duckett was joined by Ollie Pope, and England finished with a 256-run lead at 25-1.
