Joe Root’s scintillating hundred put England in command on the second day of the third cricket Test as the hosts scored 423/8, taking a first-innings lead of 345 runs against India on Thursday. Root once again led from the front with his 8th hundred against India, a splendid 121 off 165 balls laced with 14 hits to the fence. He added 139 runs with Dawid Malan (70) before sharing a 52-run stand with Jonny Bairstow (29) to put England in a commanding position with three days to go in the match. At the draw of stumps, Craig Overton (24) and Ollie Robinson (0) were at the crease.
Burns, Hameed, Malan, Root, all joined in to make Indians work very, very hard for wickets. They made runs in abundance as well. Root, the best of them all, a century for him, third in the series. He just goes on and on and on and there are still some innings to go in this series.
India on back foot. They are behind 345 runs and the lead may only swell tomorrow. They have to bat out of their skins to save this Test. There are still three days to go in this match.
We will meet again tomorrow at 2.30 pm IST. Don’t forget to join us in our coverage of the third Test.
Thanks for joining in today. Good bye for now.
India 1st innings: 78 allout in 40.4 overs (Rohit Sharma 19, Ajinkya Rahane 18; James Anderson 3/6, Craig Overton 3/14).
England 1st innings: 423/8 in 129 overs (Joe Root 121, Mohammed Shami 3/87).
India (Playing XI): Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj
England (Playing XI): Joe Root (c), Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed, Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wk), Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Ollie Robinson, Craig Overton, James Anderson.
Joe Root and his men sewed their lips and let their cricket do the talking. James Anderson’s cultured destruction of India’s top order was connoisseur’s cricket. 78 all out in 40.4 overs was how the Indian innings finished. Twice inside a year now, India have failed to reach three-figures in a Test innings. 36 in Adelaide happened barely nine months ago. India’s innings had two double-digit scores. England finished the day on 120 for no loss, with Haseeb Hameed and Rory Burns remaining unbeaten on 60 and 52 respectively. Only the first day of the third Test, but the tourists are in for a long haul.
