Gus Atkinson Shines in The 2nd Test as England Secures Series Victory Against Sri Lanka at Lord’s
Gus Atkinson completed his incredible first summer as an England Test cricketer at Lord’s by captaining his side to a convincing 190-run victory over Sri Lanka in a stunning demonstration of talent and consistency.
England won the series thanks to Atkinson’s outstanding performance, which included taking five wickets in the second innings and solidified his status as a rising star in international cricket.
Karunaratne, Chandimal, and Dhananjaya’s half-centuries are insufficient to stop Sri Lanka from losing badly.
Key Performances and Match Results
England 427 (Root 143, Atkinson 118, Asitha 5-102) and 251 (Root 103, Asitha 3-52) beat Sri Lanka 196 (Kamindu 74, Potts 2-19) and 292 (Chandimal 58, Karunaratne 55, Dhananjaya 50, Atkinson 5-62) by 190 runs.
Match Analysis
In his first summer as an England Test cricketer, Gus Atkinson produced a fifth performance worthy of the Lord’s honours boards, adding a second-inning five-for to his first hundred as the second Test eventually shattered Sri Lanka’s resistance.
The touring team, having set an improbable goal of 483 to salvage the series, produced a valiant effort in the fourth innings to try and stave off a first-ever Test defeat at Lord’s since 1991. Vijay Karunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal, and Dhananjaya de Silva all made heroic half-centuries, while Milan Rathnayake, in just his second Test, showed even more tenacious lower-order resistance. However, they lost by 190 runs in just four days, so they were ultimately soundly defeated.
The Lord’s crowd was small for the match, but there were rumblings of acclaim for Sri Lanka’s effort, and then came the latest cheer of Atkinson’s inexperienced Test career, as he lifted the ball high after hitting Rathnayake to put Sri Lanka nine down. Along with his first century of the professional era, it increased his record to 19 Test wickets at 10.94 in two Test appearances at Lord’s (three entries for five wickets in an innings, one for ten in the match).
As an all-rounder, Atkinson’s performances have also placed him in elite company; he is only the third player for England Men to score 100 runs and claim five wickets in one Test.
In order to secure a 2-0 lead in the series and their sixth straight Test victory this summer, England needed to take eight wickets upon their return on Sunday morning. They had to work hard for it, as Sri Lanka’s hitters put in a lot of effort and were supported by Chris Woakes, Olly Stone, and Shoaib Bashir in addition to Atkinson.
Even though it didn’t appear possible to chase 483 to win, they had a chance to force a fifth day of play. The message, according to Dhananjaya, was to “bat simple and bat long.” Karunaratne’s first fifty of the series set the tone during the morning session, as Sri Lanka lost just two wickets, Prabath Jayasuriya being one of them.
Before Stone knocked him out, Karunaratne put in 129 balls for his fifty-five. Chandimal then switched gears and hammered a 43-ball fifty either side of lunch. After tea, Dhananjaya scored his own fifty and, in usual style, put up the greatest partnership of the innings with Rathnayake. However, when he continued to play against Atkinson with the second new ball, it appeared like Sri Lanka’s days were running out.
Ollie Pope frequently shuffled his hand, experimenting with different lineups and strategies. Despite this, his performance with the DRS remained unsatisfactory, as three burned reviews increased his record as England’s acting captain to eight without being able to overturn a single on-field call.
The one instance of genuine irritation for England came from the review system when Chandimal’s LBW call was overturned because to the tiniest UltraEdge flicker. Woakes was heard remarking, “He’s not hit that,” on replay. However, Atkinson’s bat-pad catch at short leg ended Chandimal’s nervous innings of eleven boundaries. In his subsequent over, Kamindu Mendis struck again, sending a drive to third slip.
Just as they had done in the first innings at Old Trafford, Dhananjaya and Rathnayake put up another barrier to force the day into a third session. Taking on Stone’s short-ball attack, Rathnayake shown daring. Atkinson appeared to be on course for his second fifty-run Test match until he was dropped by Joe Root at slip. Woakes’ slower ball then saw Lahiru Kumara chip to mid-on to end the innings.
Replays showed that Woakes’ delivery had pitched just outside of leg stump, and Karunaratne narrowly avoided a review for leg before wicket off the second ball of the morning. It was a far cry from an exciting start. After the Sri Lankan opener’s cut at Atkinson eluded the diving Root, giving him a difficult, one-handed chance at slip, England lost a second review because they believed they had him caught behind off the same bowler.
After an arduous 4 from 41 balls, Woakes removed Jayasuriya with a thick-edged drive that Harry Brook well caught low at second slip. However, England was held at bay by the fourth-wicket stand between Karunaratne and Angelo Mathews, with a run-out appearing to be their most likely avenue of victory.
Karunaratne, who had only scored fifty runs in his previous thirteen innings in England, was generally cautious in his approach, even if he did manage three boundaries in an over from Atkinson: a low edge that went between slip and gully, then a cover drive that was followed by a controlled pull. He reached 49 after another steer down to deep third from Matt Potts, and for the first time on the tour, he was able to raise his bat thanks to a tap to point.
With lunch drawing near, Pope requested Stone to cut it short once more as Mathews moved to take on Bashir, who made some progress but was maybe not as dangerous as England would have hoped. Karunaratne successfully dislodged Smith by gloving a lifter through to the leg side.
After lunch, Chandimal appeared determined to counterattack, taking Woakes for consecutive fours at the beginning of his delivery before hitting Bashir for three boundaries in one over. He reached fifty with a reckless swipe at Woakes that soared beyond the slips, and he scored most of the runs in a stand of 59 with Mathews.
When Mathews was tempted by Bashir to try to go over the top, he instead went to his left at mid-off and drilled his shot into Woakes’ hands, separating them. Upon hitting the knee roll with one coming back down the slope on 55, Woakes believed he had eliminated Chandimal. However, to his dismay, third umpire Chris Gaffaney determined there had been a bat involved. The summer’s last Test at The Oval next week will see England close in on a clean sweep, so the postponement was only momentary.
Ollie Pope Focuses on Blocking Out Criticism Amidst Captaincy Struggles
Following a difficult series against Sri Lanka in which he scored just thirty runs in four innings, Ollie Pope, England’s interim captain, is coming under more and more criticism. Pope’s personal form has drawn criticism despite England’s perfect record under his leadership, especially after he failed to surpass 20 in either Test match.
Ollie Pope, who scored thirty runs in four innings against Sri Lanka, has promised to “block out” criticism of his batting. Under his leadership, England has amassed a flawless record, but Pope has faced criticism after failing to score 20 in two Test matches while filling in for the injured Ben Stokes.
The way he was dismissed after England’s 190-run victory at Lord’s revealed that Pope’s attempt to “compartmentalise” the captaincy had failed. Pope scored 1 and 17. He top-edged a wayward pull to square leg in the first innings; he was caught at deep point (the only guy back on the off-side) when he top-edged an uppercut in the second innings as England was preparing to make a declaration.
“I’m not going to put down my average shot to the fact that I was captain,” Pope stated. “I think I’ve handled my own game better throughout this match, but I’ll take what I learned from it and move on. We were attempting to move the game along, so the second innings was a little different, but I was pretty unhappy with the shot I made so early in the first innings.
“I won’t run from the truth that I’ve had two subpar at-bat games. That’s the nature of cricket sometimes; form fluctuates. However, I believe that the guys who can move on from it and start over the following week are the best. I’m hoping to assemble a score.”
Pope has a history of being erratic in his early innings. He’s been called “the worst starter since prawn cocktail” by Steve James of The Times, and in 85 Test innings, Pope has already been removed 32 times in his opening 20 balls. Even though he entered the series with a respectable record after hitting a century and two fifties against the West Indies, he acknowledged that he is working to overcome his jittery starts.
“The last two games I’ve had, they’re learning games for me,” he stated. “It definitely is something that I’m still trying to improve in my game, and obviously the way that I start my innings especially is something that I want to keep on improving – and then when I do get in, it’s trying to cash in as well.”
Pope has drawn special criticism from Michael Vaughan, who called Pope “an insecure human being” and “not the kind of personality” who could captain England. Pope stated that he had anticipated being more closely watched during his interim leadership, and that his main goal was to not “overthink” in front of Friday’s third Test at The Oval.
He responded, “I’m not surprised.” “Talking to Stokesy prior to this series, you’re going to draw a lot more [criticism] when you’re captain as well. Honestly, all you really need to do is ignore it and continue to have strong relationships with those around you. There are many voices and men who would like to express themselves, including former cricket players, and that is all very well.
Although everyone is free to express their opinions, it’s critical that I, as well as the rest of the team, continue to have faith in the individuals within the four walls since doing otherwise will not enable me to return to my best self. Due to the surrounding noise, it might occasionally feel much worse than it is when you have two poor games.”
“To be honest, I try not to overthink things and just try to remain as level as I can while still putting in my work and trusting those around me. I was playing like that when I went out and made excellent runs in that West Indies series, so I really don’t need to worry too much about what other people think.”
Since becoming the captaincy, Pope has consulted with Joe Root, whose consecutive hundreds at Lord’s set up England’s series-winning victory. “Any batter in England can learn a fair bit off him,” he stated. “Form is a transitory concept… For me, the key is to not overthink things, to keep working hard in the gym, and to approach the next game with a fresh perspective and a new week.”
Pope has amassed 11 first-class hundreds for Surrey at his home stadium, but this will be his first Test there since 2022. “Obviously it’s a great place to bat,” he stated. “I’ve played all of my county cricket at The Oval, so it’s always special to return, so hopefully there will be a big crowd.” The excitement to arrive to The Oval will be palpable.
Since 2004, England has failed to win all of its Test matches during a home season. They will be aiming for a summer sweep. “It would be a pretty cool thing to look back on,” the Pope stated. “We’ve had a great summer of cricket, but it’s clear that we had a difficult winter away in India, with the return trip not yielding the desired results. We find it quite satisfying to become accustomed to winning games one after the other.”
