Gus Atkinson hits a maiden century as England continue dominance on day two of second Test and close in on series win over Sri Lanka at Lord’s

If Michael Vaughan thinks Ollie Pope is ‘not the type of personality I would want as England captain’, then he has to admit that Pope is leading a team that will go far.

A one-sided day began with a thrilling century for Gus Atkinson from No 8 and ended with England batting again after Sri Lanka were bowled out for 196 – with Pope himself coming on after another single-figure dismissal for Dan Lawrence.

With three days to go, England – 25 for one in their second innings – are already 256 ahead. Anything short of a 2-0 lead, and a fifth successive victory, will be a shock.

However, Vaughan’s comments on the Test Match Special podcast did little to ease the pressure on Pope. Since replacing Ben Stokes, he has made 15 runs in three and a bit more innings. He also spoke about the difficulty he has had in combining his two roles.

He bravely walked onto the field with just minutes to go on the second day, having rightly decided not to enforce the follow-on. It would have been easier to send a night watchman, but if he intends to lead the way in the remainder of his time as leader, the message was received loud and clear.

Gus Atkinson continued his great start to his career with a century against the Sri Lankans

And there was plenty to admire from a side that has successfully re-energised and re-energised this summer and has made a habit of responding to adversity.

Sri Lanka batted poorly on an immaculate pitch, with only Kamindu Mendis – fresh from his scintillating hundred in Manchester – keeping the attack at bay during a first-class 74. Why he is retained at No. 7 is a mystery.

Yet England gave them little, with Chris Woakes and Matthew Potts particularly unyielding. For the third successive innings, Woakes struck with the new ball, while Potts – growing in stature after initially struggling to find rhythm on his Old Trafford comeback – dismissed Angelo Mathews and Dhananjaya de Silva with a pair of beauties in a double-wicket maiden.

And if Olly Stone ran away with expensive figures of two for 70 from 13 overs, he also made a crucial contribution in his first Test in three years. In an over split at lunch, he persuaded Dimuth Karunaratne to continue, only to have Pathum Nissanka caught at leg slip. Stone’s joy was palpable, and who could blame him?

At 118 for seven, Sri Lanka faced humiliation but Mendis – who was felled hard by Joe Root at deep square leg off Stone on 62 – was able to ease their pain.

But Shoaib Bashir got rid of Prabath Jayasuriya and Pope ended a 42-run stand for the ninth wicket with a direct hit from square leg to remove Lahiru Kumara. His contribution was nil.

Michael Vaughan criticised Ollie Pope (pictured) but England are flourishing under his leadership

Sri Lanka batted poorly on an immaculate pitch, with only Kamindu Mendi keeping the attack at bay

The morning had belonged to Atkinson, whose unbeaten 74 the night before had almost been lost in the praise for Root’s 143.

If he was nervous about the prospect of a maiden Test hundred, he showed no sign of it. He caught Kumara’s first ball of the day for four and bowled the second through covers. When Paul Reiffel gave him lbw to the third, Atkinson showed no emotion as he called for a review: to the relief of most of the 30,000 in attendance, Hawk-Eye let him slide.

He never looked back. An extra-cover drive for four from Kumara took him to 99, and three deliveries later he let him slowly slide down the ground, the celebrations starting as soon as he was beaten to mid-off.

From 103 balls, Atkinson’s century was as quick as it was orthodox and hopeless. It was the first by an England No. 8 in a home Test since Ray Illingworth here against the West Indies in 1969, and a vindication of the decision to promote him. He is clearly not the type to get giddy about.

If fairy godmothers allowed debut Test summers, they would look something like this. Atkinson took 12 wickets against West Indies in his first match last month and is now only the sixth to have his name on all three Lord’s honours boards – innings hauls of five, match hauls of 10 and centuries.

The other five are Gubby Allen, Keith Miller, Ian Botham, Stuart Broad and Woakes. Atkinson has only just arrived at the big school and he is already rubbing shoulders with the sixth formers.

On Thursday night he had slugged Jayasuriya with a pair of off-side sixes, prompting Root to compare him to South African legend Jacques Kallis. It was generous, but slightly misleading: in five Test innings at Lord’s, Kallis averaged 10.

And he wasn’t the only batting great missing from the century board: Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting and Virat Kohli have all tried and failed to score a Test century on the home turf of cricket. Atkinson has them covered too.

Olly Stone took two wickets in one over in his first Test in over three years

After just four and a half games, he has 28 wickets for 19 and 182 runs for 36, and it took something very special to remove him. He aimed for a third four in a row from Asitha Fernando, but was brilliantly caught at deep midwicket by Milan Rathnayake, who dived for the rope as the ball appeared over his shoulder.

Atkinson’s 118 helped England to 427, a minor miracle at 216 for six; Sri Lanka’s only consolation was five wickets for Fernando, only their second bowler to achieve the feat here, after Rumesh Ratnayake in 1991.

The tourists removed Lawrence late in the game, caught behind Kumara via an inside edge into his path. But this was England’s day, just as it looked set to be England’s series.