Record-breaking Joe Root gives Sri Lanka a big challenge in the second Test

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Joe Root England’s record of 34 Test centuries was broken against Sri Lanka in the second Test at Lord’s on Saturday. Root scored 103, the star batsman’s second century of the match. He had made 143 in the first innings. This helped England to be all out for 251 in the second innings on the third day. Sri Lanka needed 483 runs to level the three-Test series 1-1 after England’s five-wicket win at Old Trafford last week. Root was the last player to be dismissed after he took over from the retired England opener. alastair cookHe holds the record of scoring 33 centuries in Test cricket.

And after scoring the fastest century of his 145-Test career, off just 111 balls, the 33-year-old Root took two catches at first slip before bad light ended the day’s play.

Sri Lanka were 53/2 at stumps and needed 430 runs to end their streak of six consecutive Test defeats to England.

With his seventh Test century at Lord’s, Root equalled the record for most Test centuries at the ‘Home of Cricket’, a record he shares with former England captain Graham Gooch and his partner. michael vaughan,

It was the first time Root had scored centuries in both innings of a Test, joining West Indies’ George Headley, Gooch and Vaughan as the only batsmen to achieve the feat at Lord’s.

“It was a lot of fun,” Root told the BBC after the match. “It’s obviously a good position to be in when you’re so far ahead in the game. But you want to push on and put it in as strong a position as possible.”

He added: “It doesn’t mean you can’t score runs if everything isn’t right and that’s something I have learnt. There are other ways you can be effective, you can rotate the strike, hit a few boundaries and it becomes easier.”

Root’s father Matt hugged him as he returned to the pavilion after the end of his innings.

“I felt very proud and nice to share this moment with my dad as I walked off the field,” he said.

England resumed at 25-1 after bowling out Sri Lanka for 196 in reply to their first innings total of 427 and were ahead by 256 runs.

Pope falls cheap again

Ollie Pope ended a run of three single-digit scores since replacing an injured player with an unbeaten two last night. ben stokes He was the captain of England at the start of this series.

But Pope, who before the match had spoken about the difficulties in balancing the responsibility of captaincy and the role of number three batsman, gave his wicket away for 17 runs.

Asitha Fernando Pope stepped back, but her square slash landed straight on top of him. Prabhat Jayasuriya at the deepest point.

Harry Brook was dropped on nine when Nishan Madushka He dropped a routine catch while going for a slog sweep off left-arm spinner Jayasuriya.

Jayasuriya dismissed Brook for 37, Madushka made no mistake at deep midwicket, and jamie smith He was trapped LBW for 26 after the wicketkeeper missed his sweep.

However, a calm Root swept Jayasuriya twice and then reverse swept him to hit three fours in one over.

after Gus AtkinsonFresh from his maiden first-class century of 118 in the first innings, and Matthew Potts With both batsmen departing in quick succession, Root – who was unbeaten on 88 at the time – risked losing his partners before he could reach three figures.

But Ollie Stone held firm and Root was happy to have scored a century before he made the cut. Lahiru Kumara He pushed the ball forward before being holed out by the pacer for his 10th four.

This left Sri Lanka needing to make history as the highest fourth innings score to win a match in the 147-year history of Test cricket is held by the West Indies, who made 418-7 against Australia at St John’s in 2002/03. The West Indies hold a similar record at Lord’s, who made 344-1 against England in 1984.

Although the floodlights were on, Pope resorted to main spinner Shoaib Bashir and Root’s part-time off-breaks to prevent the match from getting postponed due to poor light.

But umpires allowed England’s pace bowlers to bowl as Atkinson had Madushka (13) caught by Root before the injury-prone Stone, playing his first Test in three years, was given out. Pathum Nissanka (14) Likewise.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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