England's batting mainstay Joe Root showered praise on Gus Atkinson, who stroked his maiden half-century, during Day 1 of the second Test against Sri Lanka at Lord's on Thursday.
Root, who stole the spotlight with a record-equalling 33rd Test century, guiding England to 358/7 at stumps with his superb knock of 143, was particularly impressed by Atkinson’s performance.
Batting at No. 8, Atkinson smashed an unbeaten 74 off 81 balls, including four sixes and five fours, punishing the Sri Lankan bowlers in the final session.
The 33-year-old admitted that Atkinson's batting style reminded him of South African batting great Jacques Kallis.
"Yeah, it was good, it was nice. I'll tell you why I was good watching Gussy (Atkinson) bat at the end, being at the other end when he hit those straight sixes, they were unbelievable believers. It's like watching someone like Jacques Kallis play.
"It was a great little innings from him, and there was some good partnerships along the way," Root said in a video posted by England Cricket on X.
Root is now level with former skipper Alastair Cook for the most Test centuries for England, with whom he shares a great bonding.
"Yeah, it's obviously nice, but it's just, I guess you try, you pride yourself on trying to contribute and helping put the team in a winning position.
We've had a few laughs and jokes about things, but Cookie's always been someone for me to look up to, bounce ideas off, and talk to, and felt under pressure or things haven't been going well, and he's been very supportive and helpful, and it's great to have people like that in and around you."
