England 427 (Root 143, Atkinson 118, Asitha 5-102) and 25 for 1 lead Sri Lanka 196 (Kamindu 74) by 256 runs
By the tip of a second day that had begun with England sitting fairly on 358 for 7 of their first innings, Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope have been again on the market of their second, nudging the lead alongside to an already imposing 256. Pope, in want of a rating after 13 runs in his first three innings as captain, endured a handful of jitters however endured to the shut unscathed, after Dan Lawrence had been given out on overview for 7, England’s solely actually duff notice of the day.
By the point he was final man out for a punchy 74 from 120 balls, Kamindu had rescued his facet from a nadir of 118 for 7 – and briefly lifted his outstanding Check common again above 100 – together with his sixth fifty-plus rating in solely eight Check innings. Nonetheless, none of his colleagues may handle greater than Dinesh Chandimal’s 23 and, with greater than three days remaining on a pitch that’s already displaying indicators of flip, England by no means gave the follow-on any severe consideration.
Whereas it lasted although, Kamindu’s newest onslaught was proof of the spirit that also programs via this Sri Lanka workforce, even within the midst of one other determined show. On his watch, a beforehand dominant England assault got the run-around by an innings containing eight fours and three sixes, one which flew via the window of the MCC Committee Room, and one other which left a spectator by the pavilion steps needing remedy for a painful, however fortunately non-serious, blow to the pinnacle.
Regardless of having had the prospect, in a single day, to overthink his alternative, Atkinson’s cool head proved to be virtually as outstanding because the feat itself. Simply as had been the case on his debut in opposition to West Indies in July, when Atkinson had earned himself a complete of three honours-board entries with five-fors in every innings and 12 wickets within the match – the prospect of one other outstanding slice of Lord’s historical past couldn’t faze him within the slightest.
Going through as much as a ball that was solely eight overs outdated, Atkinson launched his day with back-to-back boundaries as Kumara strayed both facet of the wicket, and although he was then given out lbw by Paul Reiffel third-ball, the collective groan of the Lord’s crowd shortly turned to cheers as Atkinson’s overview confirmed the ball to be lacking leg.
From then on, there was no stopping him. Milan Rathnayake supplied him one other leg-stump freebie, tickled via nice leg, and having powered via to 99 with one other pull and a drive off the erratic Kumara, Atkinson wanted simply three extra balls – in comparison with Joe Root’s 12 on day one – earlier than one other agency and focussed push via long-off landed him his milestone from simply 103 balls, the sixth-fastest century in a Lord’s Check.
Atkinson’s disbelieving smile as he saluted all 4 corners of the bottom was the one slight trace that this was no extraordinary day trip. Matthew Potts, who had performed a key function in an 85-run stand for the eighth wicket, fell quickly afterwards as Asitha was belatedly known as into the assault to strike with a third-ball outswinger.
Sri Lanka quickly reverted to a short-ball tactic, which initially suited Atkinson nice as he thrashed two extra fours behind sq. off Asitha. However, in his try to dump the identical bowler into the Grandstand, he lastly got here a cropper, courtesy of a splendidly timed leap from Rathnayake at deep midwicket, who dived in the direction of the rope – toes within the air – to cling on over his shoulder and finish a mighty innings.
And although the bumper ploy wasn’t the perfect use of Asitha’s deserves, he did no less than land a deserved second of non-public glory when Stone swung via one other quick ball to pick deep nice leg for 15. With figures of 5 for 102, that made him the primary Sri Lanka bowler to assert 5 wickets at Lord’s since Rumesh Ratnayake in 1991.
That left Sri Lanka with a difficult 45 minutes to barter earlier than the break, and for the third innings in a row, Nishan Madushka wasn’t as much as the duty. He ought to have fallen for a duck in Woakes’ second over when Jamie Smith didn’t react to a snick that Root could not attain at first slip, however he had made simply 7 – his highest rating of the sequence – when Woakes as an alternative discovered an inside-edge onto his stumps.
Then, within the last over of the session, Stone capped his return to the facet together with his first Check wicket in three lengthy years, by inducing one other inside-edge, this day off Dimuth Karunaratne, who wrecked his personal stumps as his poor sequence continued with 7 from 26 balls.
Forty minutes and 5 balls later, Stone had his second. Pathum Nissanka, who may have been run out on 3 by Dan Lawrence’s instinctive shy from quick leg, as an alternative fell for 12 as he aimed a gullible flick off the toes and picked out Potts, stationed for that exact shot at leg slip.
Angelo Mathews and Chandimal, two of the mainstays of Sri Lanka’s fightback at Outdated Trafford, picked up the items in a fourth-wicket stand of 48. However into the assault got here Potts, who was wonderful if under-rewarded within the second innings of that first Check.
With a relentless stump-to-stump line, allied to a touch of each-way motion, Potts duly struck with the primary ball of his fourth over, as Mathews was turned inside-out by one which nipped spherical his edge and into the highest of off. Then, three balls later, Dhananjaya de Silva was caught for a duck, off the splice at second slip by one other ball that straightened off the pitch, and Kamindu’s innings had barely begun when Chandimal, wanting tentative after one other blow to his injured thumb, flicked weakly off his toes to Lawrence at leg gully to go away the innings in tatters on 87 for six.
Thereafter, nonetheless, England did not discover the going fairly really easy. Rathnayake, like Atkinson, is flushed with confidence after his unlikely batting heroics at Outdated Trafford, and he launched his personal innings with 14 runs from 4 balls earlier than Woakes returned to the assault to snick him off for 19, with Smith finishing a nice diving take.
England then turned to spin, with Shoaib Bashir – lastly given a spell at Lord’s after going unused within the West Indies Check – settling into a superb rhythm earlier than prising out Jayasuriya for a beforehand resolute 8 from 46 balls, as he lastly misplaced persistence to be bowled via the gate on the cost.
Kamindu then acquired a life on 62 at Root, at deep sq. leg, made a hash of a top-edged pull off Stone and, with sturdy help from Kumara, whose 22-ball duck ended with a direct-hit run-out from Pope, he set about restoring a veneer of respectability. Atkinson, nonetheless, lured him into one too many liberties to complete his day on the excessive it had deserved. By the shut, and even permitting for Lawrence’s newest disappointment as a makeshift opener, it did not appear to be altering the future of this match, or this sequence.
Andrew Miller is UK editor of ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket