By Lawrence White
LONDON (Reuters) – It is rare a player scores a century in both innings but fails to win the man-of-the-match award, but that is the fate that befell Joe Root as he ceded the honour to all rounder Gus Atkinson as England swept aside Sri Lanka on Sunday.
Atkinson became only the third man to bag five wickets in an innings and score a century in the same Lord’s test, following India’s Vinoo Mankad in 1952 and Ian Botham for England against Pakistan in 1978.
“I couldn’t have asked for much more, to get on both honours boards is incredible and it’ll take a bit of time to sink in,” Atkinson said after helping England to a 190-run win that gave his side a 2-0 lead in the three test series.
“It’s great to be able to attack and not worry about runs. Physically it can be demanding, being aggressive every over, but I’m enjoying it very much,” Atkinson said.
England captain Ollie Pope said Atkinson’s ability to bowl near the 90 miles per hour mark while offering swing and seam made him a dangerous bowler, and backed him to keep developing.
The Surrey fast bowler’s dream test followed on from a starring turn in the previous series against West Indies, including a 12-wicket haul on debut, also at Lord’s.
“He is quick, and seaming the ball both ways, so it’s a pretty good headache for the batsman,” Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya Da Silva told reporters about facing Atkinson.
Atkinson’s rise has come at a crucial moment for England, following the successive retirements of their all-time greatest wicket taker Jimmy Anderson and his chief strike partner over the years, Stuart Broad.
(Reporting By Lawrence White, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
