England vs Sri Lanka 2nd Test Day 1 Highlights: Joe Root scored a record-equalling 33rd Test hundred for England as the hosts established a strong position against Sri Lanka on the first day of the second Test at Lord's on Thursday. England, 42-2 when Root came in to bat, reached stumps on 358-7. The star batsman made 143 -- his sixth Test century at the 'Home of Cricket'. Apart from Root, pacer Gus Atkinson was 74 not out at the close -- his maiden Test fifty in just his fifth match at this level. (Scorecard)
Here are the Highlights from the England vs Sri Lanka 2nd Test Day 1, straight from the Lord's Cricket Ground:
ENG vs SL, 2nd Test Day 1 LIVE
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We are back! Welcome back for Sri Lanka's reply. The two umpires and the English players have made their way out to the middle. Nishan Madushka and Dimuth Karunaratne stride out to open their innings. Chris Woakes will kickstart proceedings with the new ball for England. Away we go...
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... SECOND INNINGS ...
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Sri Lanka, on the other hand, will be disappointed as they started pretty well with the ball, but just could not pick up wickets at regular intervals and conceded a few big partnerships as well. Asitha Fernando was the pick of the bowlers with his fantastic five-wicket haul while Milan Rathnayake and Lahiru Kumara chipped in with a couple of wickets each. Prabath Jayasuriya also picked up one, but they only have themselves to blame as they could have kept the hosts well under 400 or even under 350. Now, the batters need to take up a lot of responsibility to get close to this total. Join us in a bit for the Lankan reply.
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A splendid batting performance from England finally comes to an end! Joe Root was obviously the standout batter for them with his incredible knock of 143 off 206 balls, but Gus Atkinson came in as the surprise package for Sri Lanka. He smashed his way to his maiden Test hundred and that helped the hosts to go past the 400-run mark. A few of their batters also got off to starts notably, Ben Duckett and Harry Brook while the lower order also contributed well. The bowlers have enough runs to play with and, they will want to keep the Lankans to as low as possible.
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101.6WAsitha Fernando to
OUT! CAUGHT! The protection in the deep leg has worked for Asitha Fernando and he gets his five-fer! Asitha Fernando once again scoots from 'round the wicket and bowls bouncer on leg, around the helmet of the batter. Olly Stone lost his eyesight on the ball at the very last moment and pulls it uppishly toward deep fine leg fielder. Kamindu Mendis adjusts himself towards the skier but catches it a bit uncomfortably. It seems he has a slight misjudgment to catch the skier but ends up picking it well. So English batters have posted 427 runs on the board to challenge Sri Lanka!
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101.50Asitha Fernando to
Hard-length delivery on middle and leg. Olly Stone slog mistimes his slog towards mid-wicket for no runs.
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101.40Asitha Fernando to
Back of a length, pitching it down the leg and shaping it towards the ribs of the batter. Olly Stone hops and nudges it one-handedly towards his leg side.
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101.30Asitha Fernando to
Fires a short one on leg. Olly Stone does nothing to it.
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101.20Asitha Fernando to
CLOSE! Asitha Fernando comes from 'round the wicket and bowls it on off, shaping ti away from the batter. Olly Stone looks to punch it away but misses but a very thin outer edge.
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101.11Asitha Fernando to Shoaib Bashir
Uppish... but safe! Bouncer, on leg. Shoaib Bashir pulls it a bit late towards deep fine leg. The ball airs a bit and drops safe towards right of the deep fine leg fielder.
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Drinks! England are in a commanding position and have a firm grip on the game. We saw Gus Atkinson getting to his maiden Test ton and they are closing in around the 450-run mark as well. Sri Lanka will hope that they can get the last wicket in the next couple of overs and then it will be up to their batters. Asitha Fernando to continue with the short-ball stuff.
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100.61to Shoaib Bashir
A loopy low full toss, on middle, Shoaib Bashir drills it down to long on for one.
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100.50to Shoaib Bashir
Goes short and on middle, angling in, Shoaib Bashir nudes it towards mid-wicket.
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100.40to Shoaib Bashir
Quicker, full and on middle, Shoaib Bashir turns it to the leg side.
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100.34to Shoaib Bashir
FOUR! He breaks the shackles now! Prabath Jayasuriya flights this up around middle, Shoaib Bashir goes down on one knee and heaves it away towards the deep mid-wicket fence for a biggie. Every run will hurt Lanka even more now.
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100.20to Shoaib Bashir
Floated, full and on middle, Shoaib Bashir tucks it to short mid-wicket.
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100.10to Shoaib Bashir
Tossed up, full and on middle, Shoaib Bashir knocks it down the pitch.
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99.61Asitha Fernando to Shoaib Bashir
Fuller and wide outside off. Shoaib Bashir eases it towards cover for a single.
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99.50Asitha Fernando to Shoaib Bashir
Back of a length on leg, Shoaib Bashir looks for a pull but misses and thumps his upper thigh.
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99.40Asitha Fernando to Shoaib Bashir
Shortish and down the leg. Shoaib Bashir does nothing to it.