Joe Root set an England report of 34 Take a look at centuries as Sri Lanka was left with a mammoth chase to win the second Take a look at at Lord’s on Saturday.
Root’s 103, the star batter’s second hundred of the match after he made 143 within the first innings, took England to a second-innings whole of 251 all out on the third day.
That left Sri Lanka needing 483 to degree this three-Take a look at collection at 1-1 following England’s five-wicket win at Outdated Trafford final week.
Root was final man out after edging forward of retired England opener Alastair Cook dinner’s mark of 33 Take a look at centuries.
ENG vs SL highlights, 2nd Take a look at
And having made the quickest century of his 145-Take a look at profession, off simply 111 balls, the 33-year-old Root then held two catches at first slip earlier than dangerous mild ended play for the day.
Sri Lanka was 53-2 at stumps, needing 430 extra runs for what could be an astounding win.
His seventh Take a look at hundred at Lord’s gave Root sole possession of the report for probably the most Take a look at centuries on the ‘House of Cricket’ he had shared together with his fellow former England captains Graham Gooch and Michael Vaughan.
It was additionally the primary time Root had made lots of in each innings of the identical Take a look at, with the Yorkshireman becoming a member of the West Indies’ George Headley, Gooch and Vaughan as the one batters to have achieved that feat at Lord’s.
England resumed on 25-1, already 256 runs forward, after dismissing Sri Lanka for 196 in reply to its first-innings 427.
Pope falls cheaply once more
Ollie Pope, two not out in a single day, ended a run of three single-figure scores since succeeding the injured Ben Stokes as England captain firstly of this collection.
However Pope, who previous to this match had spoken concerning the difficulties of balancing the duty of captaincy together with his position as a No 3 batter, gave his wicket away on 17.
Asitha Fernando dropped quick and Pope backed away, just for his sq. slash to fly straight to Prabath Jayasuriya at deep level.
England, who has received its final six Exams towards Sri Lanka, was now 69-3 however led by precisely 300 runs.
Harry Brook ought to have been out for 9 when he top-edged a slog sweep off left-arm spinner Jayasuriya just for Nishan Madushka to drop a routine catch.
Jayasuriya did dismiss Brook for 37, with Madushka making no mistake at deep midwicket, and had Jamie Smith lbw for 26 after the wicketkeeper missed a sweep.
The serene Root, nonetheless, twice swept after which reverse-swept Jayasuriya for 3 fours in an over.
After Gus Atkinson, recent from his maiden First-Class century of 118 within the first innings, and Matthew Potts each fell in fast succession, Root — then 88 not out — risked operating out of companions earlier than he reached three figures.
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However Olly Stone held agency, with an elated Root going to his hundred when he reduce Lahiru Kumara for a tenth 4 earlier than he holed out off the paceman.
That left Sri Lanka needing to make historical past of its personal, with the very best fourth-innings whole to win a match in 147 years of Take a look at historical past the West Indies’ 418-7 towards Australia at St John’s in 2002/03, and the corresponding report at Lord’s the West Indies’ 344-1 towards England in 1984.
Even with the floodlights on, the more and more gloomy situations made batting troublesome and Pope deployed frontline spinner Shoaib Bashir and Root’s part-time off-breaks in a bid to cease the match being halted for dangerous mild.
However the umpires did let England’s quicks bowl as Atkinson had Madushka (13) edging to Root earlier than the injury-plagued Stone, in his first Take a look at for 3 years, eliminated Pathum Nissanka (14) in comparable vogue.