Master at work

LONDON, August 14

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