Master at work

LONDON, August 14

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England captain Joe Root smashed an unbeaten 180 for his second hundred of the series to help his team eclipse India’s first innings total of 364 on Day 3 of the second Test. England were all out for 391, taking a slender 27-run first innings lead, riding Root’s majestic knock on an entertaining day of Test cricket at Lord’s. The 30-year-old became the second English batsman after Alastair Cook to score 9,000 Test runs. His 22nd Test hundred was studded with 18 fours.

It was a significant turnaround for England who were reeling on 23/2 when Root walked out to bat on Friday.

Having added 85 runs with Rory Burns to arrest the slide, Root forged a century partnership with Jonny Bairstow to further consolidate England’s position.

They batted throughout the morning session. Root, who scored 64 and 109 in the drawn series opener, maintained his red-hot form.

Realising he was running out of partners, Root, who has scored more than 27% of England’s runs in 2021, played a cheeky reverse ramp shot against Mohammed Siraj to score a boundary over the slip cordon, and followed it with a second successive four.

James Anderson survived a 10-ball over from Jasprit Bumrah before being bowled out by Mohammed Shami. India pulled things back with five wickets for just 77 runs in the final session. — Reuters