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After providing the early wickets of English openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett on the first day of Lord’s Test, Indian bowlers dominated the game till lunch time. But, the hosts showed resurgence in an approach that appeared very different from their Bazball style, even the stump mic caught Indian fielders and bowlers asking questions like "Where is Bazball?" Despite all this, England kept going on, Indian bowlers had their moments with the bowl as they dismissed Ollie Pope and Harry Brook from two jaffas. But one man kept standing - Joe Root.
Joe Root completed his 37th Test century on the second day of the third Test between England and India. With this record knock, Joe Root went past Rahul Dravid (36) and Australian batter Steve Smith (36) in a tally of Test centuries. Root will get himself etched on the honours board of the legendary cricket ground for the eighth time as he became the third batsman to score three successive hundred at Lord’s alongside Jack Hobbs and Michael Vaughan. Only three men have more Test hundreds than him at a single venue - Mahela Jayawardene with 11 at SSC in Colombo, Bradman with nine at the MCG in Melbourne, and Jacques Kallis with nine at Newlands in Cape Town.
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Joe Root reached his century on the first ball of the second day bowled by Jasprit Bumrah
It was Joe Root’s eleventh hundred against India, joint most alongside Steve Smith. He got to the milestone hundred on the very first delivery of the second day. Jasprit Bumrah bowled a full length delivery in a line very wide from off stump. Root pushed the ball aerially to reach out the ball far from his body and as the ball travelled from the gap near gully for four to the cry of “Rooooooooooooot” from fans echoing around Lord’s. His century provided the much needed stability to the English batting order, as it appeared to be not about going big but just to be present on the wicket. Root played 200 balls to get to his hundred, with only 10 boundaries in his whole knock.
Root got out on a peach of a delivery by Bumrah shortly after. The Indian speedster scalped him for the 11th time in Test cricket, joint most alongside Pat Cummins. In an attempt to drive a full length delivery, the ball struck the inside edge of the bat and went straight away uprooting the middle stump. Jasprit Bumrah provided the two early breakthroughs on the second day with England skipper Ben Stokes being the first dismissal of the day before getting the better of Chris Woakes as well.
