Key events
Day one report and analysis
Right then, enough from me. I’ll be back on in the morning – from the ground – to take you through the first half of day two. Will Gus Atkinson add a century at Lord’s to go with his 12-wicket debut at the ground? I reckon so.
For some Champo drama, see below:
“I was reading earlier that Sri Lanka’s captain De Silva said his team feared Atkinson’s nagging line and length more than the speed of Wood,” writes Colum Fordham. “Given his batting exploits this afternoon, the England fast bowler will now becoming even scarier. Could he become a genuine all-rounder for England? Would be very useful indeed.”
He looks technically sound and has power to go with it, too. All-rounder? Probably not a genuine one at Test level. But he can start making a decent claim for it if he adds 26 in the morning.
A reminder: England were in a spot of bother at 216 for six, but Joe Root and Gus Atkinson combined for a stand worth 92, Root finishing on 143. No Englishman has more Test tons than him, Root now level on 33 with Alastair Cook. Atkinson and Potts then kept rolling on, the former batting beautifully for an unbeaten 74. Sri Lanka looked knackered in that last hour.
STUMPS: England finish day one on 358 for seven
88th over: England 358-7 (Atkinson 74, Potts 20) Atkinson, who has enjoyed the short ball in this innings, pulls Asitha for four to move into the seventies. You’re allowed to start dreaming, Gus: a Test ton is properly there for the taking in the morning. Potts leaves an outswinger to close the day, which I’m going to give to England.
87th over: England 353-7 (Atkinson 69, Potts 20) Dhananjaya turns back to Jayasuriya’s left-arm spin for a punt late in the day. He concedes two but can’t land the desired blow.
86th over: England 351-7 (Atkinson 68, Potts 19) This is going from an OK to potentially bad day for Sri Lanka, having chosen to bowl first. They haven’t threatened with this second new ball.
“Afternoon Taha, afternoon everyone,” writes Guy Hornsby. “Having been 3 down and 5 down for not many, proceedings since then are really going to hurt this good Sri Lanka side. They have bowled well but come up against a player of ridiculous talent in Joe Root. But just as importantly, our lower order really has been excellent so far this series. I love Gus Atkinson, but never saw this score in him. But we’re all thinking it now, aren’t we? Could he? Really?”
85th over: England 343-7 (Atkinson 65, Potts 14) Another stunner from Atkinson as he drive Kumara down the ground for four. He’s a very MCC-textbook batter, that bat perfectly straight, and a smashing pull follows. Is he going to get himself on the honours board again?
84th over: England 332-7 (Atkinson 55, Potts 14) Fernando jags the ball back in to Atkinson, with an inside-edge somehow evading the stumps. There’s a bit of swing away from the right-hander for Fernando, but he can’t find the crucial nick off Potts’ edge.
83rd over: England 331-7 (Atkinson 54, Potts 14) The new ball isn’t whizzing around just yet for Kumara and Fernando. A ball down the leg-side from Kumara is expertly claimed by a leaping Madushka. An edge trickles away for four before Potts shows some serious authority with a punchy pull through the leg side for four.
82nd over: England 322-7 (Atkinson 53, Potts 6) Asitha Fernando has the new ball from the other end and is greeted by a Potts drive through point for four. An edge trickles away to bring Atkinson back on strike.
81st over: England 316-7 (Atkinson 52, Potts 1) Lahiru Kumara has the second new ball in his hand, the visitors hoping they can knock off these last three wickets before stumps. Kumara finds a bit of nip away from Potts with the fresh cherry before the No 9 flicks to the leg side for a single to end the over.
Half-century for Gus Atkinson!
Atkinson thumps Rathnayake through extra cover to celebrate his first Test half-century, off just 61 balls, three sixes to go with three fours. He’s finding this whole thing way too easy at the moment.
80th over: England 315-7 (Atkinson 52, Potts 0)
79th over: England 309-7 (Atkinson 46, Potts 0) No rash shots from Atkinson and Potts as Jayasuriya concedes one. Potts can bat, too, with a first-class hundred on his CV.
78th over: England 308-7 (Atkinson 45, Potts 0) Did he need to play that reverse scoop? Probably not. But life is short, Joe Root deserves to have some fun and there are other more serious things out there to be worried/angry about.
WICKET! Root c Nissanka b Rathnayake 143 (England 308-7)
Oh dear. Root decides to play his trademark reverse-scoop but gets it horribly wrong, instead offering catching practice to Nissanka in the slip cordon with a lob high into the air.
77th over: England 308-6 (Atkinson 45, Root 143) Jayasuriya, off that economical walk-up which barely leaves the strip, concedes two.
76th over: England 306-6 (Atkinson 44, Root 142) Root and Atkinson are nudging and nurdling well when they’re not finding the boundary. They take four runs off Rathnayake, their stand now worth 90. It’s looking like it’ll be England’s day.
75th over: England 302-6 (Atkinson 43, Root 139) Jayasuriya returns to stem the flow of runs but they still pick him off for five, running hard between the wickets.
74th over: England 297-6 (Atkinson 40, Root 137) Gus Atkinson really loves Lord’s, doesn’t he? Twelve wickets against the West Indies last month and now another six, pulling Kamindu over deep midwicket. It was another poor ball from the part-time spinner; Sri Lanka probably need to change things up at the Nursery End, with six overs left to the second new ball.
73rd over: England 287-6 (Atkinson 31, Root 137)
Rathnayake is pulled away by Root for four, evading the man close in at mid-on/midwicket.
“If Surrey play an attack of Will Jacks, Sam Curran, Jordan Clark, Jamie Overton and Atkinson, Gus is in at 11,” writes Gary Naylor. “Yet here he is, justifying his selection at 8 for England. Funny what confidence and freedom from the fear of failure can do.”
A Surrey first-choice XI would cause most Test sides a lot of bother.
72nd over: England 283-6 (Root 133, Atkinson 31) Kamindu bowls another drag-down, Root easily pulling it away from four. Sri Lanka are obviously trying to get themselves to that second new ball but they still need to keep a bit of discipline here; Kamindu bowling a loose one every over ain’t that.
71st over: England 278-6 (Atkinson 31, Root 128) Atkinson tries to leave a ball well outside off, but still gets a bit of bat on it. It doesn’t cause the batter any bother, the ball bouncing before reaching the keeper’s gloves. Time for drinks.
70th over: England 277-6 (Atkinson 31, Root 127) The ambidextrous Kamindu Mendis enters the attack; he decides to bowl some right-arm offies. He’s too short to Root, allowing the right-hander to easily cut for four. A reverse-sweep follows to give Root two. And then another, this time for four. As cool as it is to bowl with both arms, batting remains Kamindu’s primary skill.
69th over: England 264-6 (Atkinson 29, Root 116) Asitha, who impressed me at Old Trafford last week, sees Atkinson strum a cover drive, the England No 8 dominating this very tidy stand with Root.
68th over: England 258-6 (Atkinson 24, Root 115) Milan Rathnayake re-enters the attack, running in from the Nursery End. Root is batting well outside his crease and ends the over by leaning into a wide hit-me ball, driving through cover for four.
67th over: England 253-6 (Atkinson 23, Root 111) Asitha goes short to Atkinson, who rides it by pulling for one. Lord’s seems rather quiet at the moment – not that it gets raucous over there – perhaps entering a late-afternoon lull.
66th over: England 247-6 (Atkinson 21, Root 107) Atkinson looks comfortable out there, capable of supporting Root without needing to be shepherded. Once again he laces Jayasuriya for six, stepping out to drive over extra cover. That forces mid-off to drop closer to the boundary.
65th over: England 238-6 (Atkinson 13, Root 106) Atkinson is smashing with control, driving Asitha Fernando behind point for four to move to 13.
64th over: England 233-6 (Atkinson 9, Root 105) Gus Atkinson defies his status as a No 8 with a shot of a No 4, skipping down the pitch to loft Jayasuriya with a straight bat over long-off for six. A lovely stroke.
63rd over: England 226-6 (Atkinson 3, Root 104) Root gets his focus back on the job, which remains a big one: England are still short of a decent total.
Joe Root hits his 33rd Test hundred!
Again, Atkinson gets himself off strike quickly, pulling Lahiru Kumara for one. Root plays out a dot before guiding the ball to the third-man rope for four. He’s delighted, too, that boundary taking him level with Alastair Cook on 33 Test hundreds. No Englishman has hit more. He is a quite extraordinary cricketer.
62nd over: England 220-6 (Atkinson 2, Root 99) Atkinson gets a single first ball but Root can’t get away the probing Jayasuriya for that much-desired single. The wait continues.
Will hand over now to Taha Hashim, who will take you through the next little bit.
61st over: England 219-5 (Root 99, Atkinson 1): Root so nearly drags on! There is definitely some tension here. A couple of times Root threatens to nick the single run that would take him to three figures, only for Atkinson to send him back. Some superb fielding from Kumara, off his own bowling, again denies England’s talisman. It’s a maiden, Atkinson will face next.
60th over: England 219-6 (Root 99, Atkinson 1): Root is just one away now. A tense mood hangs over Lord’s.
59th over: England 216-5 (Root 98: Root edges nearer, not literally. He had added one more to his total before Woakes’s dismissal.
WICKET! Woakes c AM Fernando b Kumara 6 (England 216-6)
Great bowling from Kumara! He expertly pitches a short delivery at Woakes’ bonce, Woakes slogs wildly and at the second attempt, Fernando takes an easy catch down at fine leg! He initially dropped it, but the ball popped up, and he grabbed it gratefully with a knowing smile.
58th over: England 215-5 (Root 96, Woakes 6): Another loose, short ball from Jayasuriya and once again it gets the treatment from Root, who goes low this time on his way to another four. At 95, Root is now one stroke from equalling Alastair Cook’s record (33) of centuries for England. One more run from the over. Root needs four for his ton.
“Sorry to be a pedant with your previous correspondents, emails Christian Miners, “but Padel is not the same as the short/paddle tennis we played in school playgrounds. Padel is played in a partially enclosed court – to the extent that bouncing the ball hard off the back wall is a key tactic. What John Gray (below) describes is closer to pickleball – the mortal enemy of tennis, because it requires much less skill to play, and takes much less room.”
57th over: England 210-5 (Root 91, Woakes 6): A shake of the head from Root, as he falls for the bait, wildly flashing well outside off at a Kumara length delivery. Root is lucky not to nick through to the keeper, and he knows it. Complete silence from the Sky commentary team, presumably out of embarrassment for the shot. Root gathers himself, ducks under a bouncer and nicks a single. Woakes will face one delivery, which he negotiates nicely.
“With the England top order looking fragile, it is worth nothing that one of the best main characters on OBO over the years, Young Jonny Bairstow, has worked his way to 38 not out for Yorkshire this afternoon”, emails Peter Salmon. “Potentially the best comeback since Harold Bishop?”
56th over: England 209-5 (Root 90, Woakes 6): A four to start, nearly a six! Jayasuriya is wayyyy too short with his opening ball, Root is onto it in a flash and gives it a good old heave-ho to square leg for four. Root nurdles a couple more balls to the on side and is now into the nineties!
55th over: England 202-5 (Root 83, Woakes 6): Play and a miss from Root! From that wide angle I was talking about, Kumara nips one back and flashes one past the inside edge. Root keeps the strike, swiping one to deep backward point for a single run.
54th over: England 201-5 (Root 82, Woakes 6): A gentle start, as Jayasuriya gets Root playing forward with a few forward defensives. We don’t want too much excitement when people are still re-taking their seats, thank you very much.
We’re back. Root and Woakes out in the middle. The sun is out at Lord’s. There is a murmur. Champagne corks are popping. Glorious.
Catching up with some other emails. This one, from John Gray, is nice.
“I too remember padel tennis (Hamish Kuzminski @ 14.34 in today’s OBO) at King Edward’s Five Ways School in Birmingham. Though I knew it as padder tennis. It was a great way to spend the summer lunchtimes – courts were painted on to the tarmac playground, and the nets provided, all we needed to were our own racquets (heavy, solid-plastic bats were the best) and tennis balls. PE staff Mr Watson and Mr Stansfield would drop by occasionally to show us how they thought it should be done, and any victories against them were very sweet!”
You’d probably say that, so far at least, it’s Sri Lanka’s day. Duckett, Brook and Smith got starts, but were quickly removed after that. But ominously, Root looks in sensational nick, and – BREAKING NEWS – his is the golden wicket for Sri Lanka. How many times have we said that?
“Afternoon Michael, lovely day for it,” emails Felix Wood. “I can’t help but feel the selectors have made a bit of a mess of this. Lawrence might be the next cab off the rank but his form has been pretty average for Surrey this season, and he’s not an opener. And Pope’s low 30s should make him vulnerable to being dropped, not given the captaincy. This side has a long tail and a fragile head, and are going to get found out fairly quickly.”
TEA! England 200-5 on the opening day
53rd over: England 200-5 (Root 81, Woakes 6): Woakes stabs outside off and despite it being little more than a defensive shot, the timing is excellent and it beats cover to bring up the 200 for England. Kumara has got a nice angle of attack, from wide on the crease but Woakes fends him off. That’s tea!
52nd over: England 197-5 (Root 80, Woakes 4): Woakes shows his intent! The Warwickshire player comes down the ground and clobbers Jayasuriya over his head. The ball bounces just shy of the rope but bounces softly and only just makes it to the line. Four runs. A quieter rest of the over ensues, with Woakes doing particularly well to dig out a yorker.
51st over: England 193-5 (Root 80, Woakes 0): A maiden, with Rathnayake probing nicely with full-length balls to Root.
50th over: England 193-5 (Root 80, Woakes 0): Root pokes one off the opening delivery of Jayasuriya’s over to move into the eighties, leaving Woakes to face five balls. He survives the opening barrage, without any further runs.
49th over: England 192-5 (Root 78): A shame for England, as Smith had looked good (if a little streaky), crashing a shot through mid-on for a four earlier in the over. In comes Chris Woakes.
WICKET! Smith c Fernando b Rathnayake 33 (England 192-5)
Edged, and gone! That’s a big wicket for Sri Lanka, with Smith getting into his groove in the middle, although he had swung and missed earlier in the over. It was a good length delivery, just outside off, and Smith obliged with a thin edge through to the wicketkeeper.
48th over: England 187-4 (Root 78, Smith 17): Root finishes the over with a flourish, leaning back into his crease and crashing a shot through the covers for four.
47th over: England 182-4 (Root 73, Smith 17): Root plays a straight drive straight down the ground. The ball clips the bowler, Rathnayake, on the boot but keeps going to the boundary. Dhananjaya de Silva gives chase but stumbles as he retrieves the ball. His slide was ill-judged, with De Silva’s left knee digging into the turf, a la Simon Jones in 2002. De Silva gets up and saves the boundary but you can see that hurt. Sri Lanka’s captain is grimacing. The last
46th over: England 177-4 (Root 71, Smith 14): A maiden passes without note.
An email from Adrian Goldman: “It seems to me that this is the corollary of the rule that you can’t be caught out off your pads: a deflection that comes off your body isn’t out unless it hit your bat first. This creates a pleasing symmetry in the rules”
45th over: England 177-4 (Root 71, Smith 14) Root nicks off the last ball of the over through gulley! A thick outside edge that just evades two catchers.