England secured a hard-fought victory by 190 runs on the fourth afternoon at Lord’s and took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series against Sri Lanka. It was their fifth win this summer and their second under the stand-in captain Ollie Pope.
Gus Atkinson, who scored a century in the first innings, starred in the second with a five-wicket haul that helped bowl out Sri Lanka for 292. The victory came soon after Tea, with the new ball leading to three quick wickets. Dhananjaya de Silva, who made his 16th Test fifty, inside-edged an Atkinson delivery onto his stumps and Milan Rathnayake edged behind soon after. Chris Woakes wrapped up the innings and the win with an off-pace delivery to Lahiru Kumara on what was a slow pitch on offer.
Most of the damage was done by England in the afternoon but the second session started with a flurry of boundaries from Dinesh Chandimal, the batter finding the middle of the bat against Shoaib Bashir’s offspin but not quite able to do the same against Chris Woakes. The pacer bowled a probing six-over spell but with no wickets to show for. Chandimal, meanwhile, went on to make a half-century off 42 balls, the quickest by a Sri Lankan at Lord’s.
In the process, Chandimal added a half-century stand for the fifth wicket but England broke through soon after the milestone with the wicket of Angelo Mathews. It was a nice set-up by Shoaib Bashir, who went around the wicket and got the batter chipping to mid-off.
Chandimal was finally undone in a fresh spell from Gus Atkinson when he inside-edged onto his pad and lobbed a catch to short leg. The pacer struck again in his next over and returned the in-form Kamindu Mendis caught behind.
Skipper, Dhananjaya de Silva and Milan Rathnayake came together and added 73 runs for the eighth wicket. De Silva in particular looked impressive during his 70-ball stay and brought up his 16th Test fifty with a drive down the ground. He was castled as a delivery by Atkinson kept low, and soon after, the batter chopped on.
Earlier in the morning session, England reduced Sri Lanka to 136 for 4 despite a resilient half-century from Dimuth Karunaratne, whose dismissal just before the break set Sri Lanka back. Karunaratne and Angelo Mathews had earlier steadied the chase with a 50-run stand after Prabath Jayasuriya fell early. England’s bowlers, led by Olly Stone, capitalized on key moments to keep Sri Lanka under pressure.
Brief scores: Sri Lanka 196 & 260/7 (Chandimal 58, de Silva 50; Atkinson 5-62) lost to England 427 & 251 by 190 runs