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Gus Atkinson took centre stage at Lord’s once again with a maiden first-class hundred as England seized the initiative in the second Test against Sri Lanka.
Already on two of the three Test honours boards at Lord’s after a 12-wicket match haul against the West Indies on debut last month, Atkinson completed the set with a swashbuckling 118 off 115 deliveries.
Having lifted England from 215 for six when he came in to 427 all out, Atkinson then claimed a couple of wickets, including that of dangerman Kamindu Mendis for 74, as Sri Lanka were bundled out for 196.
Chris Woakes and Matthew Potts were metronomic with their lines and lengths and each claimed two wickets, as did Olly Stone on a heart-warming first Test in three years due to injury struggles.
England declined to enforce the follow-on and swelled their lead to 256 as they went to stumps on day two on 25 for one – and they are firm favourites to move into an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.
They were given a huge helping hand by Atkinson, who belied a first-class average of 20 by bludgeoning 14 fours and four sixes en route to the sixth quickest ton at Lord’s, building on Joe Root’s majestic opening day 143.
Only on a dozen previous occasions has an Englishman reached three figures batting at eight or lower and Atkinson is the first since Matt Prior’s Test-saving ton against New Zealand in March 2013.
Resuming on 74, Atkinson was allowed to settle with a glance off his hip for four before a booming cover drive produced the same result. The third ball of the day saw him given lbw but Lahiru Kumara’s delivery was doing too much and Atkinson was reprieved on review to the relief of the crowd.
Atkinson continued to go for his shots as his milestone loomed ever closer, which he reached off just 103 deliveries by punching Kumara through mid-off for his 11th four.
In just his fifth Test and second at Lord’s, Atkinson joined fellow Englishmen Gubby Allen, Ian Botham, Stuart Broad and Woakes, plus Australia’s Keith Miller, as the only players who have taken five wickets in an innings, 10 in a match and made a hundred at the home of cricket.
Asitha Fernando’s belated introduction hastened the end of England’s innings as he hoovered up the last three wickets to become the second Sri Lankan to take a Test five-for at Lord’s. Atkinson was ninth man out after taking England beyond 400 following a screamer of a catch in the deep by Milan Rathnayake.
While Nishan Madushka, opening the batting for Sri Lanka after 102 overs keeping wicket, was reprieved when he edged between Jamie Smith and Joe Root it was a momentary blip for England.
Both Sri Lanka openers dragged on to their stumps for seven before lunch, with Woakes snaring Madushka for the third time in three innings, while either side of lunch Stone had two in an over after accounting for Dimuth Karunaratne and number three Pathum Nissanka, who fell into a leg slip trap.
Two of Sri Lanka’s old stagers, Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal, offered brief resistance but Ollie Pope simply shuffled his pack and turned to Potts, who painstakingly probed away around off-stump.
He was rewarded with a double-wicket maiden, first castling Mathews with a beauty that moved down the slope while Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva lasted three balls before skewing to second slip.
Sri Lanka were still not in three figures when Chandimal became their sixth wicket to fall after carelessly flicking Atkinson to Dan Lawrence but after Woakes had Rathnayake caught behind, Mendis offered some much-needed resistance after tea.
Potts beat the inside edge when Mendis was on eight but England’s review showed the ball would have fractionally missed the stumps on height.
Having made an impressive hundred in Sri Lanka’s defeat at Emirates Old Trafford last week, Mendis soaked up the pressure, with Prabath Jayasuriya battling away for 46 balls before losing patience and charging Shoaib Bashir as he was bowled through the gate.
Mendis hooked the expensive Stone for three sixes in his second fifty of the series but was last man out taking on Atkinson, with Woakes safely pouching a skier.
While Ben Duckett reached 15 not out at the close, makeshift opener Lawrence was out for seven, his second single-figure score of the Test, after tickling Kumara to Madushka, with Sri Lanka successfully overturning the original not out decision.
