England are currently taking on Sri Lanka in the second Test of the three-match series at the Lord's Cricket Ground in London. The Three Lions would be looking for a victory in this game in order to clinch the series with a game to spare. Amidst this Test match, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has made a cryptic post where they hinted that the great South African legend, Jacques Kallis came out to bat at no.8 for them. This left fans perplexed.
In a post on X, ECB posted a video with the caption, 'Always nice to have Jacques Kallis at no.8'. The video was not of Kallis but of fast bowler Gus Atkinson, who slammed a century coming in to bat at no.8 in the first innings for England.
A sensational catch marks the end of a brilliant innings 🤯Well batted, Gus 🫡 pic.twitter.com/tVX53BZdT1
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 30, 2024
Atkinson played a whirlwind knock, where he scored 118 from 115 balls in an innings studded with 14 fours and 4 sixes. He was the second-highest scorer for England in the innings after Joe Root who smashed 142. He became the 6th batter to slam a ton at Lord's coming to bat at no.8.
He was one of the main reasons why England posted a total of 427 in the first innings.
ECB made the comparison of Atkinson with Kallis, because of the slight spark of the all-round abilities displayed by him.
On Day 1, Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bowl first. England did not get off to a great start as they lost their first 4 wickets for 132 runs. In spite of losing wickets at regular intervals, it was Joe Root who stood his ground at one end, as he scored yet another century. In fact, Root slammed his 33rd Test ton in this game.
The England batter became the active batter with the most number of Test tons right now, overtaking Kane Williamson and Steve Smith. He also equalled Alastair Cook’s record of most centuries by an England batter in history. He also joined the great Micheal Vaughan and Graham Gooch, as the player with the joint-most amount of tons (6) at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground.
Sri Lanka are currently 129/7 at tea, with Olly Stone, Matthew Potts and Chris Woakes picking up 2 wickets each.