After Sir Ian Botham, Gus Atkinson is the only English cricketer to achieve a Test century and take ten wickets at Lord’s in the same season. He made history by scoring 118 runs in the first innings in the second Test against Sri Lanka, which is now underway.
Atkinson scored 69 runs in 14 overs towards the end of his innings. His effort put Sri Lanka under a lot of early pressure as England amassed a total of 247 runs in the first innings.
It’s important to remember that the first and only non-English cricketer to hit a century and take a five-fer at the Lord’s was Vinoo Mankad, a former player for India. Though they did it in different seasons, England’s Gubby Allen, Stuart Broad, and current pace spearhead Chris Woakes have all scored a tonne of runs and taken five wickets.
Ben Duckett and Dan Lawrence, the England opening batsmen, scored 40 and nine runs, respectively, as the Test began between Sri Lanka and England. Joe Root scored 143 runs in 206 deliveries, dismissing captain Ollie Pope after only one run.
Furthermore, Gus Atkinson reached his century and assisted England in scoring 427 runs in the opening innings following brief appearances by Jamie Smith and Harry Brook.
With five wickets in his account, Asitha Fernando was Sri Lanka’s highest wicket taker. Milan Rathnayake and Lahiru Kumara both claimed two wickets, while Prabath Jayasuriya scored one.
As soon as Sri Lanka took the pitch, they were overwhelmed by England’s superb bowling display. Nishan Madushka and Dimuth Karunaratne, the openers, each left the pitch after seven runs. Angelo Mathews and Pathum Nissanka each scored 12 and 22 runs, while Dinesh Chandimal added 23 runs to the score.
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Even though Kamindu Mendis scored the most runs for his team in the first innings (74 off 120 deliveries), Sri Lanka was still far behind as they were bowled out for a meagre 196 runs in the first innings. After losing Dan Lawrence’s single wicket, England finished the second day of play batting on a total of 25 runs in an attempt to extend their lead.
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