England decline to enforce follow-on after remarkable maiden hundred sets up 231-run lead

Andrew Miller30-Aug-2024Gus Atkinson’s magnificent maiden Test century set the tone for another dominant England performance at Lord’s.By the end of a second day that had begun with England sitting pretty on 358 for 7 in their first innings, Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope were back out there in their second, nudging the lead along to an already imposing 256. Pope, in need of a score after 13 runs in his first three innings as captain, endured a handful of jitters but endured to the close unscathed, after Dan Lawrence had been given out on review for 7, England’s only truly duff note of the day.In between whiles, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 196 in 55.3 overs, a first-innings deficit of 231, having relied once more on the indomitable skills of Kamindu Mendis to haul them out of a familiar top-order tail-spin.By the time he was last man out for a punchy 74 from 120 balls, Kamindu had rescued his side from a nadir of 118 for 7 – and briefly lifted his remarkable Test average back above 100 – with his sixth fifty-plus score in only eight Test innings. However, none of his colleagues could manage more than Dinesh Chandimal’s 23 and, with more than three days remaining on a pitch that is already showing signs of turn, England never gave the follow-on any serious consideration.While it lasted though, Kamindu’s latest onslaught was proof of the spirit that still courses through this Sri Lanka team, even in the midst of another desperate display. On his watch, a previously dominant England attack were given the run-around by an innings containing eight fours and three sixes, one which flew through the window of the MCC Committee Room, and another which left a spectator by the pavilion steps needing treatment for a painful, but thankfully non-serious, blow to the head.Olly Stone dismissed two of Sri Lanka’s top-three on Test return•AFP/Getty ImagesUntil his intervention, Sri Lanka’s performance had been every bit as off-colour as their dreadful display on the third day of the first Test at Old Trafford. Then, as now, their foothold in the contest came loose during a muddled morning with the ball, with Atkinson the prime beneficiary as he converted his overnight 74 not out into a sublime 103-ball hundred. It was the first of his professional career, and the first by a designated England No.8 or lower since Stuart Broad’s 169 on this same ground against Pakistan in 2010.Despite having had the chance, overnight, to overthink his opportunity, Atkinson’s cool head proved to be almost as remarkable as the feat itself. Just as had been the case on his debut against West Indies in July, when Atkinson had earned himself a total of three honours-board entries with five-fors in each innings and 12 wickets in the match – the prospect of another remarkable slice of Lord’s history could not faze him in the slightest.Facing up to a ball that was only eight overs old, Atkinson launched his day with back-to-back boundaries as Kumara strayed either side of the wicket, and though he was then given out lbw by Paul Reiffel third-ball, the collective groan of the Lord’s crowd quickly turned to cheers as Atkinson’s review showed the ball to be missing leg.From then on, there was no stopping him. Milan Rathnayake offered him another leg-stump freebie, tickled through fine leg, and having powered through to 99 with another pull and a drive off the erratic Kumara, Atkinson needed just three more balls – compared to Joe Root’s 12 on day one – before another firm and focussed push through long-off landed him his milestone from just 103 balls, the sixth-fastest century in a Lord’s Test.Kamindu Mendis was at the centre of Sri Lanka’s resistance again•Getty ImagesAtkinson’s disbelieving smile as he saluted all four corners of the ground was the only slight hint that this was no ordinary day out. Matthew Potts, who had played a key role in an 85-run stand for the eighth wicket, fell soon afterwards as Asitha was belatedly called into the attack to strike with a third-ball outswinger.Sri Lanka soon reverted to a short-ball tactic, which initially suited Atkinson fine as he thrashed two more fours behind square off Asitha. But, in his attempt to dump the same bowler into the Grandstand, he finally came a cropper, courtesy of a wonderfully timed leap from Rathnayake at deep midwicket, who dived towards the rope – feet in the air – to cling on over his shoulder and end a mighty innings.And though the bumper ploy wasn’t the best use of Asitha’s merits, he did at least land a deserved moment of personal glory when Stone swung through another short ball to pick out deep fine leg for 15. With figures of 5 for 102, that made him the first Sri Lanka bowler to claim five wickets at Lord’s since Rumesh Ratnayake in 1991.That left Sri Lanka with a tricky 45 minutes to negotiate before the break, and for the third innings in a row, Nishan Madushka wasn’t up to the task. He should have fallen for a duck in Woakes’ second over when Jamie Smith failed to react to a snick that Root couldn’t reach at first slip, but he had made just 7 – his highest score of the series – when Woakes instead found an inside-edge onto his stumps.Then, in the final over of the session, Stone capped his return to the side with his first Test wicket in three long years, by inducing another inside-edge, this time off Dimuth Karunaratne, who wrecked his own stumps as his poor series continued with 7 from 26 balls.Forty minutes and five balls later, Stone had his second. Pathum Nissanka, who could have been run out on 3 by Dan Lawrence’s instinctive shy from short leg, instead fell for 12 as he aimed a gullible flick off the toes and picked out Potts, stationed for that precise shot at leg slip.Angelo Mathews and Chandimal, two of the mainstays of Sri Lanka’s fightback at Old Trafford, picked up the pieces in a fourth-wicket stand of 48. But into the attack came Potts, who was excellent if under-rewarded in the second innings of that first Test.With a relentless stump-to-stump line, allied to a hint of each-way movement, Potts duly struck with the first ball of his fourth over, as Mathews was turned inside-out by one that nipped round his edge and into the top of off. Then, three balls later, Dhananjaya de Silva was caught for a duck, off the splice at second slip by another ball that straightened off the pitch, and Kamindu’s innings had barely begun when Chandimal, looking tentative after another blow to his injured thumb, flicked weakly off his toes to Lawrence at leg gully to leave the innings in tatters on 87 for 6.Thereafter, however, England didn’t find the going quite so easy. Rathnayake, like Atkinson, is flushed with confidence after his unlikely batting heroics at Old Trafford, and he launched his own innings with 14 runs from four balls before Woakes returned to the attack to snick him off for 19, with Smith completing a fine diving take.England then turned to spin, with Shoaib Bashir – finally given a spell at Lord’s after going unused in the West Indies Test – settling into an excellent rhythm before prising out Jayasuriya for a previously resolute 8 from 46 balls, as he finally lost patience to be bowled through the gate on the charge.Kamindu then got a life on 62 at Root, at deep square leg, made a hash of a top-edged pull off Stone and, with sturdy support from Kumara, whose 22-ball duck ended with a direct-hit run-out from Pope, he set about restoring a veneer of respectability. Atkinson, however, lured him into one too many liberties to finish his day on the high it had deserved. By the close, and even allowing for Lawrence’s latest disappointment as a makeshift opener, it didn’t look like changing the destiny of this match, or this series.