Gus Atkinson takes another five-wicket haul at Lord’s as England clinch series

Having already put his identify on all three honours boards in simply two outings on the house of cricket, Atkinson’s 5 for 62 helped bundle out Sri Lanka for 292 because the hosts gained the second Check by 190 runs.

Chris Woakes and Olly Stone every chipped in with a few wickets and England are actually only one victory away from finishing a clear sweep of house Check triumphs for the primary time since 2004.

England, who beat the West Indies 3-0 in July, had drawn their previous 5 Checks towards Sri Lanka at Lord’s courting again to 1991 however Atkinson’s all-round contribution and Joe Root’s twin centuries downed the vacationers.

Half-centuries from Dimuth Karunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal and Dhananjaya de Silva all held up Ollie Pope and his crew, who wanted eight wickets on the penultimate day, however they gave the impression to be merely delaying the inevitable they usually had been all out in 86.4 overs, shortly after the tea interval.

The one disappointment on a heat, sunny day was the sparse crowd. Whereas tickets for under-16s had been simply £15, the most cost effective accessible for adults turning up on Sunday morning to look at England declare a primary win in six makes an attempt over these opponents at this floor – after 5 attracts – had been priced at £95.

Atkinson made mild of the low turnout simply a few days after registering his maiden first-class century. Having shone towards the Windies right here in July, he’s one in every of solely six gamers who’ve taken 5 wickets in an innings, 10 in a match and made a century on the house of cricket.

It was initially a subdued begin for England as whereas Chris Woakes snaffled the sting of nightwatcher Prabath Jayasuriya, Joe Root spilled a tough head-high likelihood when Karunaratne was on 25.

England additionally unsuccessfully reviewed not out verdicts towards the opener twice, and whereas there was a touch of variable bounce early on, there was treasured little else for the seamers to work with.

Stone was due to this fact deployed as a short-ball battering ram and he was rewarded as his additional zip obtained one to carry off the floor and tickle Karunaratne’s glove as he tried to fend off beneath his armpit.

After seeing off Karunaratne for 55, Stone dug one other one in to Chandimal, who obtained off nought with a periscope single earlier than the previous Sri Lanka captain went on the assault both aspect of lunch.

He contributed 51 to a 59-run stand with Angelo Mathews, who grafted unobtrusively for 36 solely to instantly grind to a halt. After absorbing 19 successive dots, the stress lastly instructed as he skewed uppishly to extensive mid-off to present Shoaib Bashir his first wicket.

Chandimal, who flicked unwittingly over the slips to achieve a 42-ball half-century, was saved by a faint inside edge after being given out on 55 however he added simply three extra earlier than flicking on to his pad off Atkinson, with Pope vindicated for placing in a short-leg as Dan Lawrence took a straightforward catch.

Kamindu Mendis has been the most important batting thorn in England’s aspect on this sequence however he lasted 5 balls earlier than throwing his palms at Atkinson from around the wicket, with Ben Duckett taking the sting.

There was no fast end, although, and whereas Stone sconed Milan Rathnayake within the helmet, the batter had his revenge with three fours in an over off the fast.

England burned their closing assessment on Rathnayake, with Bashir’s supply sliding down leg to proceed Pope’s luckless use of DRS – in his eight opinions, he’s but to overturn the on-field choice.

Dan Lawrence’s unorthodox off-spin was given an airing earlier than England took the brand new ball after tea, with Root grassing his second of the break day Atkinson and third of the Check to reprieve Rathnayake on 33.

Atkinson took the fielders out of the equation as Dhananjaya under-edged on to his stumps for 50 whereas the Surrey man had his five-for when Rathnayake obtained a tickle on an tried pull by means of to Smith.

Woakes claimed the ultimate wicket and a complete England win within the subsequent over when Lahiru Kumara spooned to Stone at mid-on.