Skipper Root scores second consecutive ton to put England in commanding position against India on Day Three at Lord’s
England captain Joe Root celebrates his century against India on Saturday. Pic/Bipin Patel
England captain Joe Root was hardly perturbed during his undefeated knock of 132, but the Indian pace attack fared marginally better to make a few breakthroughs before the hosts reached 314-5 at tea on the third day of the second Test.
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India were bowled out for 364 in the first innings. As many as 97 and 98 runs were scored in first two sessions respectively, signalling the plight of the Indian bowling attack, primarily due to Root, who has tweaked his stance with lesser trigger movement of back-foot.
Along with Root, Moeen Ali (20 not out) was at the crease after Mohammed Siraj (3-71) and Ishant Sharma (1-60) did well enough to remove the set Jonny Bairstow (57 off 107 balls) and Jos Buttler (23 off 42 balls).
However, Siraj was guilty of bowling too many short and wide balls on the day and a plethora of boundaries came quickly. Root, a nemesis of Indian bowlers since his international debut, was once again at his best as he attacked them from the start of the third day and found an able ally in Bairstow, as they added 121 runs for the fourth wicket before Siraj hurried the later with a short ball.
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Old warhorse Ishant, then, bowled a fuller delivery that nipped back in to breach Buttler’s defence. In between, Root ran a quick single to score his 22nd Test hundred and also became the first England captain to score five centuries in a season.
Save Jasprit Bumrah (0-62), none of the Indian pacers looked like troubling the duo, who scored boundaries at will to release the pressure in the first hour itself. Root started the first session with a square drive off Siraj to reach his third successive fifty plus score in the series.
Shami (1-87) and Siraj during the first half an hour gave away at least six boundaries as skipper Virat Kohli had no clue about setting the field for the bad deliveries that the normally dependable Shami and the inexperienced Siraj bowled.
Five
No. of centuries scored by Joe Root this season, the maximum for an England skipper
Brief scores
India 364 v England 314-5 (J Root 132*, J Bairstow 57, R Burns 49; M Siraj 3-71) *Scores incomplete
Also Read: IND vs ENG 2nd Test: Why Joe Root's decision to insert India failed
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