Gus Atkinson’s maiden Test century puts England on top against Sri Lanka
Atkinson hit a swashbuckling 118 off 115 deliveries.
Gus Atkinson’s glorious first summer as a Test cricketer continued with a maiden first-class hundred as England looked to move into the ascendancy 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.
He is just the 12th English batter to make a three-figure score from number eight or lower and, having come in at a dicey 215 for six, Atkinson’s innings, following Joe Root’s 143 on Thursday, lifted the hosts to 427 all out after being put in.
Chris Woakes made inroads into Sri Lanka’s batting when Nishan Madushka dragged onto his stumps while Dimuth Karunaratne did the same off Olly Stone as the tourists went to lunch on day two of the second Test on 32 for two.
Lahiru Kumara set the tone for a sloppy morning for Sri Lanka, gifting Atkinson, who resumed on 74, a leg-side glance first up and the England batter made it back-to-back fours with an assured cover drive.
Given out from the third ball of the morning, Atkinson successfully reviewed as the ball would have jagged back too far down the slope to miss leg stump as the crowd breathed a sigh of relief.
He continued to play with confidence as the milestone hovered into view. Only when he was on 99 and he uncertainly prodded outside off were there any signs of nerves but Atkinson punched the next ball past mid-off for his 11th four, to go with four sixes from yesterday, to reach the landmark.
As he celebrated the sixth-fastest century at Lord’s from 103 balls, 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.
The belated introduction of Asitha Fernando saw Matthew Potts nick off for 21, ending an 85-run stand alongside Atkinson, before Sri Lanka turned to the short-ball ploy after England passed 400.
The plan worked as Atkinson pulled into the deep, with Milan Rathnayake taking a jaw-dropping catch over his shoulder at deep midwicket off Fernando, who also accounted for Stone for 15 to become just the second Sri Lankan bowler after Rumesh Ratnayake in 1991 to take a five-for at Lord’s.
England’s good morning continued as Woakes snared Madushka for the third time in three innings while Stone, playing his first Test since June 2021, accounted for Karunaratne with the final ball before lunch.
