2nd Test
Day-4 Afternoon Session Highlights:
Gus Atkinson has propelled the England team to a 2-0 series lead
At The Tea of Day-4:
Sri Lanka scored 196 (1st Innings) & 260/7 (2nd Innings), where as England scored 427 (1st Innings) & 251 (2nd Innings).
So, finally England won by 190 runs.
England secured a hard-fought 190-run victory on the fourth afternoon at Lord’s, clinching an unassailable 2-0 series lead against Sri Lanka.
This win marked England’s fifth consecutive triumph this summer and the second under stand-in captain Ollie Pope.
Gus Atkinson, who had earlier scored a century in the first innings, was the star in the second, taking a crucial five-wicket haul that helped bowl Sri Lanka out for 292.
The victory was sealed shortly after Tea, with the new ball delivering three quick wickets.
Dhananjaya de Silva, who had notched his 16th Test fifty, inside-edged an Atkinson delivery onto his stumps, and Milan Rathnayake edged behind soon after.
Chris Woakes then wrapped up the innings and the match with an off-pace delivery that dismissed Lahiru Kumara on a slow pitch.
Most of the damage was done in the afternoon session, which began with a flurry of boundaries from Dinesh Chandimal.
The batter found the middle of the bat against Shoaib Bashir’s off spin but struggled against Chris Woakes, who bowled a probing six-over spell without taking a wicket.
Chandimal, however, managed to score a rapid half-century off 42 balls, marking the quickest fifty by a Sri Lankan at Lord’s.
Chandimal and Angelo Mathews added a half-century stand for the fifth wicket, but England broke through shortly after, with Shoaib Bashir inducing Mathews to chip a catch to mid-off.
Chandimal’s innings ended in a fresh spell from Atkinson, who had him inside-edge onto his pad, lobbing a catch to short leg.
Atkinson struck again in his next over, dismissing the in-form Kamindu Mendis caught-behind.
Dhananjaya de Silva and Milan Rathnayake then added 73 runs for the eighth wicket, with de Silva looking particularly impressive during his 70-ball stay.
He brought up his 16th Test fifty with a drive down the ground but was soon bowled by Atkinson as a delivery kept low, causing him to chop on.
Earlier in the morning session, England had reduced Sri Lanka to 136 for 4 despite a resilient half-century from Dimuth Karunaratne, whose dismissal just before the break was a significant setback.
Karunaratne and Angelo Mathews had earlier steadied the chase with a 50-run partnership after Prabath Jayasuriya fell early.
England’s bowlers, led by Olly Stone, capitalized on key moments to keep Sri Lanka under pressure.
Leave a Reply