England seal Sri Lanka series as Gus Atkinson adds five wickets to century

There was not a great deal of encouragement from the Lord’s pitch and a thin crowd made for a slightly sleepy Sunday. But by 5pm local time, after another five-wicket performance from Gus Atkinson, England had secured a series victory over Sri Lanka and set up the prospect of their first perfect Test summer for 20 years.

Not since 2004, when New Zealand and South Africa were swept aside by Michael Vaughan’s men, have England won every Test match in a home season. But while they play one fewer these days, a 2-0 lead over Sri Lanka to follow the 3-0 victory over West Indies – secured with a commanding 190-run victory in this second Test – still presents a rare opportunity. Ollie Pope, two wins from two as stand-in captain but personally short on runs, will welcome this week’s return to the Oval.

Like that Vaughan vintage, this is an England side planning to build towards a climax down the line; a work in progress, rather than the finished article. They have refreshed their team – not least the bowling attack of Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad – and even with three first-choice players lost to injury this series – Ben Stokes, Zak Crawley and Mark Wood – maintained winning ways. Their opponents this summer may sit on the wrong side of the sport’s titled global economy but credit is still due.

It helps to have a batting galáctico, of course, and Joe Root, the only ever-present these past two years, was pretty celestial here. Beyond the twin hundreds that took him to 34 overall and knocked Alastair Cook down to second on the list of Test centuries by an Englishman, most encouraging was the assertion that, aged 33 and out the other side of captaincy, there are plenty more miles left on the clock.

But this match also witnessed a continuation of Atkinson’s remarkable start to life as a Test cricketer. His 118 from No 8 in the first innings was not a gun-slinger’s knock from a chancy tailender, rather the crisp and proficient innings of a genuine bat. Beyond the peroxide-tipped hair – perhaps a tribute to the pint of Guinness drunk by Anderson at the end of his farewell Test – he appears an unshowy, steely type.

Back in the day job, Atkinson also maintained his hot streak of claiming at least two wickets per innings since his debut in July. On a fourth day when wickets needed to be chiselled out, his figures of five for 62 from 16 overs saw the tourists eventually bowled out for 292 in their fanciful pursuit of 483 to win.

It had been a spirited second innings from Sri Lanka, half-centuries from Dimuth Karunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal and Dhananjaya de Silva ensuring no quick kill for their hosts. But thanks to a collective effort from Pope’s bowlers, with Atkinson the standout once more, England head to the Oval chasing more history.

Ali Martin’s full report to follow