Atkinson’s sublime 118 from just 115 balls helped England reach 427 all out on the morning of day two, with Asitha Fernando getting his name on the honours board thanks to figures of 5-102, but Sri Lanka found themselves reduced to 35-3 in reply shortly after lunch.
The seam quartet of the returning Olly Stone (2-70), Atkinson (2-40), Chris Woakes (2-21) and Matthew Potts (2-19) shared the wickets around as Sri Lanka were dismissed for 196 late in the day, with Kamindu Mendis the one shining light for them following his innings of 74.
England lost Dan Lawrence to a contentious DRS decision before the close after choosing not to make the visitors follow-on, but will resume on day three aiming to build on their overnight lead of 256 runs and put themselves on the verge of wrapping up a series win with one Test still to play.
More to follow…
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