LONDON (AP) — Joe Root joined Alastair Cook on a record 33 test centuries for England by hitting 143 to anchor his team’s recovery to 358-7 on Day 1 of the second test against Sri Lanka at Lord’s on Thursday.
An injudicious scoop shot that brought an end to his latest exquisite innings at the home of cricket just before stumps was Root’s only misjudgment on a day he became the active player with most test centuries, pulling clear of fellow superstars Steve Smith of Australia and Kane Williamson of New Zealand.
After 12 dot balls when on 99, Root opened the face of his bat and guided the ball for four between the slips and gully to bring up his record-tying sixth test hundred at Lord’s and get his name on the honors board in the pavilion once again. He raised his right hand, removed his helmet, kissed the England badge on it and saluted the crowd before pointing to the sky.
In the all-time list of test centurions, only nine players have more than Cook — the former England opener and captain — and now Root, who helped England get out of a spot of bother in his 145th test match.
At one point, Sri Lanka — which won the toss and opted to bowl under a blue sky — had England at 130-4 and then 192-5 with only a long tail to dismiss.
However, Gus Atkinson’s 74 not out — for his maiden test fifty — shifted the momentum back the way of England, which won the first test in Manchester last week mainly thanks to Root’s decisive 62 not out in the English chase for victory.
Five days later and again it was Root playing a starring role, the highlight being an elegant cover drive after he was into three figures that wowed the crowd at Lord’s. He had started off on the right foot, clipping his first ball through square leg for four, and before long he went past fifty for the 97th time in tests. Only Sachin Tendulkar (119), Jacques Kallis (103), Ricky Ponting (103) and Rahul Dravid (99) have done so more times.
“I’m in a very good place at the minute,” Root said. “I feel like I’m really enjoying everything. I’ve got a good balance of things. The game is fickle if you start looking too far ahead and plan too far ahead. You’ve just got to try to live in the now.”
It’s a testament to the 33-year-old Root’s drive and elite mentality that he walked off the field unhappy when his innings was over, shaking his head after attempting a ramp shot that caught the end of his bat and skied to point.
It didn’t stop him getting a standing ovation.
Aside from his last shot, Root this summer has slightly reined in the bold and occasionally reckless approach he and his England teammates have adopted in this so-called “Bazball” era under coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes.
Root looks all the better for it.
“The way the rest of the guys play, you can get caught up in it,” he said. “You want to get involved in it — it’s so much fun watching these guys go about their business and be so aggressive and be so successful at it. You want to be a part of that.
“But the conditions have dictated us playing a certain way the last little while. Part of test batting is being able to manage that for long periods of time. I feel like throughout this year until now, I’ve been able to do that quite nicely.”
Earlier, Sri Lanka had prospered in glorious conditions, taking three wickets before lunch when England was its own worst enemy at times.
While probing bowling by recalled pacer Lahiru Kumara accounted for Dan Lawrence nicking behind for 9, stand-in captain Ollie Pope (1) and Ben Duckett (40) will feel an element of regret after choosing the wrong shot and getting themselves out.
Pope (1) got cramped up after opting to pull Asitha Fernando and misjudged his shot that looped up into the hands of Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva running to square leg.
That made it 42-2, and it was 82-3 when Duckett (40) top-edged a reverse sweep off the fourth ball of spinner Prabath Jayasuriya’s first over and was caught near the boundary by Kumara.
Harry Brook (33) and Jamie Smith (21) were the batters to depart in the middle session before Root started to dominate and the Sri Lankan seam attack began to tire.
Matthew Potts (20 not out) was in the middle with Atkinson at stumps and their partnership was up to 50.
“We need to get him into golf because that swing is pure,” Root said of Atkinson. “Those guys at the end have put us in a good position going into Day 2.”
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