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Ahead of the third Test match against Sri Lanka, England batting allrounder Ben Stokes showered praise on his compatriot Joe Root and called him an "amazing" player.
Last Saturday, Root leapfrogged Cook to register the most centuries by an English batter in the longest format, as he scored his 34th century in Tests against Sri Lanka. Currently, England are in a 2-0 lead in the Test series after winning the opening two matches against Sri Lanka. In the first game, England clinched a five-wicket win over Sri Lanka. While, in the second match, England won by 190 runs to Sri Lanka. Speaking to Sky Sports, Stokes said that he has done all the superlatives with Root in the past 10 to 12 years when he played with him. "He is an amazing player. I don't think there is much more I can say about him, I have pretty much done all the superlatives with Joe in the 10 or 12 years I have played with him," Stokes was quoted by Sky Sports as saying. Stokes also called Root an unselfish player, who always puts his team first in whatever decision-making there is. "The thing about Joe is he is so unselfish, he puts the team first in whatever decision-making there is throughout a Test match or even throughout a series. He is just awesome. He is England's greatest-ever batter and it is going to be hard to find another one like him for a very long time," he added. Recapping the second Test match between England and Sri Lanka, the visitors 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 innings, 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 wicket-takers 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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