England moved into a powerful position to win the series against Sri Lanka by taking a stranglehold on the second Test at Lord’s after an unlikely century by fast bowler Gus Atkinson and another batting collapse by the tourist on Friday.
After Atkinson’s entertaining 118 led England to 427 all out, Sri Lanka was skittled for 196 in 55.3 overs to face a 231-run, first-innings deficit on Day 2 at the home of cricket.
England chose not to enforce the follow-on and reached stumps on 25 for one, with a lead of 256.
Having won the first Test in Manchester last week, England is on track to wrap up a second straight series victory this international summer — after a 3-0 win over West Indies last month.
Arguably the star of England’s Test summer has been Atkinson, who has his name on both of the honours boards in the England dressing room at Lord’s.
He took 12 wickets there against the Windies on debut, and has now starred with the bat by scoring a maiden Test century with a display of crisp hitting that, at times, made him look like a top-order batter.
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