Gus Atkinson, Joe Root help England decimate Sri Lanka

Joe Root and Gus Atkinson hogged the limelight as England decimated Sri Lanka by 190 runs to win the second Test match at Lord’s. The win means England take a 2-0 unassailable lead in the three-match series.

Root scored 143 and 103 in both the innings while Atkinson starred with a sublime 118 with the bat in the first innings and 5/62 with the ball in the second innings apart from the 2/40 in the first to walk away with the player-of-the-match award.

England batted first and scored 427 before bowling Sri Lanka out for 196 in the first innings. England captain Ollie Pope did not enforce the follow-on and England scored 251 in their second innings leaving Sri Lanka to score 483 runs or bat out seven sessions for a win or a draw respectively.

However, Sri Lanka could only manage just 292 and were subjected to a seventh straight defeat to England.

Root, for the first time in 145 Test matches, scored centuries in both innings to set a new record. He drew with Sir Alastair Cook with 33 Test centuries, the joint-most for England, in the first innings and then went past the former England captain in the second innings to set a record of 34 Test centuries, the most by any England player.

Meanwhile, Atkinson joined Root as the second centurion in the first innings when he made 118 in the first innings, his maiden first-class hundred.

Atkinson is now the third player to take five wickets in an innings and score a century in the same Lord’s test. India’s Vinoo Mankad did the same in 1952 while Ian Botham got the honours for the same for England against Pakistan in 1978.

Atkinson also secured a mention on the coveted Lord’s honours boards in just his second Test match at Lord’s. He has a mention in his first Test for taking 12 wickets against West Indies last month, on his England debut.

The third and final England vs Sri Lanka Test match begins at The Oval on Friday. England won the first Test in Manchester last week.