LONDON, Sep 1: England clinched the series against Sri Lanka by winning the second Test on Sunday on the back of a five-wicket haul by Gus Atkinson that put him on the honours board at Lord’s once again.
England dismissed Sri Lanka for 292 in its second innings to seal a 190-run win just after tea on Day 4 at the home of cricket and move 2-0 ahead in the three-match series. It backed up a 3-0 victory for England over the West Indies in July.
Atkinson is England’s new star and the fast bowler took 5-62 to follow his brilliant knock of 118 in the first innings that set his team up for the win. Atkinson will get his name on the honours board in the England dressing room at Lord’s for both of those exploits — having already done so during the West Indies series for a 10-wicket haul at the storied ground in northwest London.
In front of a sparse fourth-day crowd at Lord’s, the home side were held up by half-centuries from Dimuth Karunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal and captain Dhananjaya de Silva.
England had the luxury of a mountain of runs – Sri Lanka were chasing a record 483 to win – but had to overcome some benign conditions, belated application from the tourists and two Joe Root dropped catches.
The tourists battled past tea, when Atkinson grasped the second new ball to hustle through the tail. His five wicket haul left Sri Lanka 292 all out and beaten by 190 runs.
For Sri Lanka, this is a first defeat in six visits to Lord’s, following five draws stretching back to 2002. It is England’s seventh straight Test win over Sri Lanka since the drawn 2016 Lord’s Test.
England won the first Test in Manchester last week. The third and final match of the series starts at The Oval on Friday. (Agencies)
