Xtra Time Web Desk: England captain Joe Root is turning out to be the real pain for Indian bowlers in the ongoing series. Root carried on his form from Trent Bridge to score his second consecutive hundred in the series against India on Day 3 of the second test match at Lords on Saturday. Riding on Root’s unbeaten 180, England scored 391 runs in first innings, taking a lead of 27 runs.
More than the quantum of lead which stands at 27 currently, it is the psychological advantage that England gained after a poor first day which will put them in good stead as their bowlers would go flat out to dismiss the low on confidence Indian middle order cheaply on the fourth day.
En route his 321-ball knock, Root became the first England captain to hit five hundreds in a season and also complete a personal milestone of 9000 Test runs while clinically annihilating the Indian attack which has till now failed to crack the ”Root Code”.
His sequence of scores now reads 64, 109, 180* in this series.
Mohammed Siraj (30-7-94-4) was the pick of Indian bowlers but he bowled too many boundary balls. Old workhorse Ishant Sharma (24-4-69-3) once again did his part but at times looked tired in his later spells although the in-cutter that cleaned up Jos Buttler (23) would be any pacer”s dream.
But England batting was all about Root and how he controlled the narrative with superb technique and the sublime range of strokes on the off-side.
Root was joined by Jonny Bairstow when the score read 23/2. From there the duo added 121 runs with Bairstow making a valuable half century (57 off 107 balls).
After a wicketless first session, India did enjoy some good moments when Siraj got Bairstow with a short ball and Ishant bowled Buttler but Moeen Ali was again given loose balls on platter as England closed in on the lead.
From 341 for 5, there was another lower-order slump which had England at 358 for 8 before Root played a flick off Siraj to give his team the lead.