LONDON: 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 three of the second Test on Saturday. England were all out for 391, taking a slender 27-run first innings lead, riding on 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 9000 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, much to the frustration of the Indian bowlers who tried all they could but just could not separate them.
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While Root, who scored 64 and 109 in the drawn series opener in Nottingham, maintained his red-hot form, Bairstow regained his mojo with a fighting 57, his first test fifty in 20 innings. Mohammed Siraj (4-94) had Bairstow caught in the slip after cramping him for room as the batsman tried to pull a short-pitched delivery from round the wicket.
Root, who has scored more than 27% of England`s runs in 2021, brought up his hundred with a tight single off Jasprit Bumrah. The 30-year-old took off his helmet and soaked in the applause from the crowd before being embraced by Jos Buttler.
Ishant Sharma (3-69) sent back Moeen Ali and Sam Curran in successive deliveries but Root kept going at the other end.
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Realising he was running out of partners, Root played a cheeky reverse ramp shot against 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 Bumrah but lost his off-stump to Mohammed Shami to be the last man out.
