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Following his side's series win over Sri Lanka, England stand-in captain Ollie Pope expressed that getting extra 100-120 runs helped his team stay in a good position and lauded some standout players for their performances.
Joe Root and Gus Atkinson were the standouts as England secured a 190 run win over Sri Lanka to take the three-match series 2-0. While Root continued getting closer to Indian icon Sachin Tendulkar's run tally with twin centuries, that helped him surpass former skipper Alastair Cook's century tally in Tests for England, Atkinson delivered an all-round show that contributes further to his meteoric rise at international level. Speaking after the game, Pope lauded Root for his performances, saying that it helped the team get a big lead and get "funky" with their field settings. "Really happy to be 2-0 up in the series. Some very special individual performances this week and very good contributions throughout the whole side, really happy to win the series, onto the Oval. (Captaincy) This week was very different to last in terms of the modes of dismissals. At Lord's, we are always in the game with the slope. It is just about getting creative and find different catching positions. The way Root played, we were lucky enough to have a big lead, and so you can get a bit funky with the field," said Pope. Speaking on not being able to use reviews successfully, Pope acknowledged that it did not go his way but he would rather use his reviews instead of keeping them unused. Pope lauded Atkinson, pacers Matthew Potts and Olly Stone for their performances. "Gus was the standout. Even the way Potts played and Olly Stone came an played as well, massive contributions for the team. They can win you Test matches. Getting those extra 100-120 runs can really put you in a very good position. Everyone takes their batting very seriously. The pitch was gradually getting worse, it was important to let the bowlers have a bit of time off their feet. We gave spin a crack, we could have tried a few more things, but we knew how important the new ball was on this pitch. That was the reason behind that (for not persisting with the spinners yesterday). Always a special Test, have got few Surrey boys up in the changing room, should be a great week," concluded Pope. Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to field first. England scored 427 runs in the first innings, with Root (143 in 206 balls, with 18 fours) and Gus Atkinson (118 in 115 balls, with 14 fours and four sixes) slamming centuries to take England to a massive score. Asitha Fernando (5/102) was the top bowler for Sri Lanka. Milan Rathnayake and Lahiru Kumara took two wickets each. In their first innings, despite Kamindu Mendis's fighting 74 runs in 120 balls, with eight fours and three sixes, Sri Lanka could manage just 196 runs as the top-order let the team down again. Chris Woakes, Olly Stones, Gus Atkinson, and Matthew Potts got two wickets each, while Shoaib Bashir got one. England led by 231 runs. Sri Lanka showcased much better control with the ball in England's second inning, bundling them out for 251 runs. After Root's 103 in 121 balls, with 10 fours, the second biggest contribution was delivered by Harry Brook (37 in 36 balls, with four boundaries and a six). Asitha Fernando (3/52) and Lahiru Kumara (3/53) were the top wickettakers for Sri Lanka. In the run-chase of 483, Sri Lanka put up a fight as three half-centuries came from Dimuth Karunaratne (55 in 129 balls, with seven fours), Dinesh Chandimal (58 in 62 balls, with 11 fours) and skipper Dhananjaya de Silva (50 in 71 balls, with seven fours). But despite that, Lanka was bundled out for 292 runs and lost by 190 runs. Atkinson (5/62) was the pick of the bowlers for England, picking his third five-wicket haul at the Lord's. Olly Stone and Chris Woakes also got two wickets. Atkinson secured the 'Player of the Match' award for his all-round performance. (ANI)
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