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Gus Atkinson’s latest Lord’s feat wraps up series for England
The touring side, set an unlikely target of 483 to keep the series alive, put on a gutsy fourth-innings display in a bid to avoid a first Test defeat at Lord’s since 1991. There were valiant half-centuries for Dimuth Karunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal and Dhananjaya de Silva as well as more dogged lower-order resistance from Milan Rathnayake, in only his second Test. But in the end, they were well beaten, going down by 190 runs inside four days.
There was only a sparse crowd in at Lord’s to appreciate the contest, but there were ripples of applause for Sri Lanka’s endeavour – followed by the latest ovation of Atkinson’s fledgling Test career, as he raised the ball aloft after removing Rathnayake to leave Sri Lanka nine down. It took his tally to 19 Test wickets at 10.94 in two Test appearances at Lord’s (three entries on the board for five wickets in an innings, one for ten in the match), to go alongside the first century of his professional career.
Atkinson’s exploits also put him in select company as an allrounder, becoming only the third England Men’s player to score a hundred and take a five-wicket haul in the same Test.
England returned on Sunday morning needing eight wickets to seal a 2-0 lead in the series – and their fifth consecutive Test win this summer. They were made to work hard for it, with Chris Woakes, Olly Stone and Shoaib Bashir contributing alongside Atkinson as Sri Lanka’s batters applied themselves to their task.
If chasing 483 to win seemed unlikely, they certainly had a chance of taking the game into a fifth day. “Bat simple and bat long,” was the message, according to Dhananjaya, and Karunaratne’s first fifty of the series set the tone during the morning session as Sri Lanka lost just two wickets, one of them the “lightwatcher”, Prabath Jayasuriya.
Karunaratne dug in for 129 balls for his 55, before being bounced out by Stone, then Chandimal changed gears to blitz a 43-ball fifty either side of lunch. Dhananjaya was typically cool in putting up the highest partnership of the innings alongside Rathnayake, notching his own fifty after tea; but when he played on against Atkinson with the second new ball, the end for Sri Lanka was nigh.
The review system also led to England’s one moment of palpable frustration, when Chandimal had an lbw decision reversed on the strength of the minutest of flickers on UltraEdge – “He’s not hit that,” Woakes could be seen to say on replay. But Chandimal’s skittish innings featuring 11 boundaries eventually came to an end via a bat-pad catch at short leg off Atkinson, who struck again in his next over as Kamindu Mendis flashed a drive to third slip.
Dhananjaya and Rathnayake threw up another roadblock, as they had done in the first innings at Old Trafford, to extend the day into a third session. Rathnayake showed his bravery in taking on Stone’s short-ball attack and after being dropped by Joe Root at slip off Atkinson looked set to add a second fifty in as many Tests only to nick a pull behind, before Woakes’ slower ball finished the innings off, Lahiru Kumara chipping to mid-on.
It was a long way from an eventful start, which saw Karunaratne survive a review for lbw off the second ball of the morning – replays showing Woakes’ delivery had pitched fractionally outside leg stump. The Sri Lanka opener had another life when a slash at Atkinson evaded the diving Root, a tough, one-handed chance at slip; England then lost a second review when thought they had him caught behind off the same bowler.
Woakes removed Jayasuriya after an obdurate innings of 4 from 41 balls, a thick-edged drive well held low at second slip by Harry Brook. But the fourth-wicket stand between Karunaratne and Angelo Mathews kept England at bay, with a run-out seemingly their likeliest method of a breakthrough.
With just one fifty from 13 previous innings in England, Karunaratne was largely watchful in his approach, although he did take three boundaries off an over from Atkinson: a cover drive followed up with a controlled pull, before a low edge flew between slip and gully. Another steer down to deep third off Matt Potts took him to 49 before a tap to point allowed him to raise his bat for the first time on tour.
Chandimal seemed intent on counterattacking and took Woakes for back-to-back fours at the start of his spell after lunch, then hit Bashir for three boundaries in an over. A wild swipe at Woakes that flew over the slips took him to fifty, and he did the bulk of the scoring during a stand of 59 with Mathews.
They were separated when Bashir tempted Mathews to try and go over the top, only to drill his shot into the hands of Woakes, going to his left at mid-off. Woakes then thought he had removed Chandimal on 55, hitting the knee roll with one coming back down the slope – only for the third umpire, Chris Gaffaney, to conclude there was bat involved, much to Woakes’ chagrin. The delay was temporary, as England closed in on a clean sweep ahead of the final Test of the summer at The Oval next week.
Brief scores:
England 427 (Joe Root 143, Gus Atkinson 118; Asitha Fernando 5-102) and 251 (Joe Root 103; Asitha Fernando 3-52) beat Sri Lanka 196 (Kamindu Mendis 74, Mathew Potts 2-19) and 292 (Dinesh Chandimal 58, Dimuth Karunaratne 55, Dhananjaya de Silva 50, Gus Atkinson 5-62) by 190 runs
Wednesday afternoon’s all-time classic in Ahmedabad was a game of inches. A couple of inches this way or that, and Saturday night’s game, at the same venue, could have had a whole lot more riding on it.
But as things stand, New Zealand and South Africa look set for safe passage out of Group D and into the Super Eights, leaving Afghanistan bemoaning fate and small margins, and praying for miracles from UAE and Canada – or is probably unlikely to cut it.
There’s no mystery about which of the Super Eights groups New Zealand and South Africa will end up in either. Pre-tournament seedings already decided that.
So this game, which could have been one of the tastiest clashes of the tournament, pitting two title contenders and featuring several tactical sub-plots, doesn’t really have much riding on it at all.
It could still turn out to be one of the games of the tournament, of course, because that can happen when you put two T20 teams of elite power and skill on the field together. But the title of this section, big picture? There isn’t much of it at all.
He is one of South Africa’s greatest cricketers of all time, but is Kagiso Rabada under some pressure to hold his place in their first XI in T20Is? He has the pace and skills to operate in any phase, but he has had an indifferent time in T20Is of late. Rabada averages 34.55 with the ball since 2025, with an economy rate of 9.82. But in his defence, he has only played nine T20Is in this time, thanks to injury and workload management. The chaotic 20th over against Afghanistan, during which Rabada overstepped twice, shouldn’t put his spot in danger. But he’ll want to pick himself up and remind the world of the impact he can make at his best.
Rachin Ravindra looks like he could be the archetypal modern-day T20 No. 3, but his international record in the format is… not good, with a strike rate of 135.19, an average of 19.09, and just three half-centuries in 40 innings. All that doesn’t take away from Ravindra’s potential – which he has shown in flashes in recent weeks, in a pair of cameos against India – and he could make a big difference on Saturday if he and his fellow left-handers in New Zealand’s line-up could get stuck into Keshav Maharaj’s left-arm spin.
New Zealand played the same XI against both Afghanistan and UAE, and they seem unlikely to make any changes unless a used pitch prompts them to pick an extra spinner in Ish Sodhi.
New Zealand (probable): Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner (capt), James Neesham, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Jacob Duffy
South Africa replaced seam-bowling allrounder Corbin Bosch with spin-bowling allrounder George Linde when they played Afghanistan. They might, however, worry about having two left-arm fingerspinners in Linde and Maharaj against a New Zealand side with four left-hand batters in their likely top eight. Bosch, therefore, could come back in.
South Africa (probable): Aiden Markram (capt), Quinton de Kock (wk), Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch/George Linde, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi
[Cricinfo]
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Teacher recruitment examinations will be conducted in accordance with the relevant court decisions – PM
Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated that the forthcoming two teacher recruitment examinations will be conducted in accordance with the relevant court decisions pertaining to the ongoing legal proceedings and further noted that, taking into consideration the requests received, steps have been taken to make a request to Court’s approval to revise the conditions of the effective date of degree completion.
The Prime Minister made these remarks while addressing a meeting held at Monaragala Royal College to brief education authorities of the Monaragala District on the new education reforms.
Under the new education reforms, Smart Boards will be provided to 132 schools in the Monaragala District as part of the program to equip secondary schools with modern technology. As a symbolic step under this initiative, Smart Boards were presented to 10 secondary schools under the Prime Minister’s patronage. This program is being implemented with the intervention of the Digital Task Force operating under the Prime Minister’s Office. It was also emphasized that a new digital policy, formulated with special attention to child protection, will be introduced in April.
As part of her visit to the Monaragala District on the 13 th of February, the Prime Minister observed the implementation of the new learning methodologies introduced for Grade One under the new education reforms. She visited Kumbukkana Sri Shanmugam Tamil Maha Vidyalaya and Maduruketiya Maha Vidyalaya in Monaragala to observe the educational activities of Grade One students.
Considering the increase of student numbers and the development of infrastructure facilities, the Prime Minister also approved a proposal submitted by the School Development Society to rename Maduruketiya Maha Vidyalaya as Monaragala Dharmaraja Maha Vidyalaya.
Teachers briefed the Prime Minister that the new education system, supported by revised workbooks and activity-based learning methods, has proven to be effective, with students participating enthusiastically.
Addressing education officials further at the meeting held at Monaragala Royal College, the Prime Minister stated:
“Although this will not provide a complete solution to the existing teacher vacancies, these examinations can offer considerable relief. According to the Court’s previous determination, the effective date of degree completion had been set as 30.06.2025. However, considering numerous requests and following the cabinet approval we have sought Court’s consent to revise this date. We will act in accordance with the decision granted.
Funds allocated for school infrastructure must be utilized transparently and in line with proper planning, and progress must be reported accordingly. We cannot move forward by dividing ourselves along national, provincial, rural, or urban lines. As education authorities, you must make swift and accurate decisions based on correct data.
Further, discussions are already underway within the Piriven Committee of the Ministry of Education to develop Piriven education and to address the issues faced by Piriven teachers.”
The event was attended by the members of the Maha Sangha, Uva Province Governor Attorney-at-Law Kapila Jayasekara, Deputy Minister of Trade and Commerce R.M. Jayawardhana, Member of Parliament Ajith Agalakada, Uva Provincial Education Secretary Nihal Gunarathne, and several officials from the education sector.
[Prime Minister’s Media Division]
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Low-pressure area is likely to form over the southeastern Bay of Bengal around 15th February
Special Weather Bulletin issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre of the Department of Meteorology
Issued at 10.30 a.m. on 13 February 2026
A low-pressure area is likely to form over the southeastern Bay of Bengal around 15th February.
The general public are requested to be attentive to the future forecasts and bulletins issued by the Department of Meteorology in this regard
New Zealand and South Africa look ahead to Super Eights in low-pressure contest
Teacher recruitment examinations will be conducted in accordance with the relevant court decisions – PM
Low-pressure area is likely to form over the southeastern Bay of Bengal around 15th February
Kolkata the stage as England, Scotland resume auld rivalry
Showers will occur at times in the Central, Uva, Eastern, Northern and North-central provinces and in Hambantota district
Sajith points to irregularities in coal procurement deals
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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