19 hours ago
11
It was Joe Root day in Manchester on Friday, where 20,000 people sat and admired a true master at work. Inevitable is a dangerous word in cricket, such is the fickle nature of the sport, and yet all that transpired felt as close to this as is possible: the likeliest of outcomes once Root gamboled out in the morning under an azure blue sky.
The first expectation was that England, though still trailing India by 133 runs, would take full control of this fourth Test match and, sitting 2-1 up, the series as a whole. Ben Stokes, Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley had inflicted such damage 24 hours earlier that it was going to take something remarkable from the tourists to turn things around.
And there was also a strong suspicion that Root, on 11, would probably end the day with only Sachin Tendulkar above him in the sport’s all-time run-scoring charts. Compiling 150 from 248 balls, his 38th Test century and another for his personal Louvre, this was very much achieved, with a trio of all-time greats surpassed and his career tally now sitting at 13,409 runs. Tendulkar, who retired with 15,921, is now the final boss left to conquer.
Not that Root seemed too fussed when, on the stroke of tea, he guided the increasingly innocuous Anshul Kamboj for a single behind square to move past Ricky Ponting’s 13,378-run stash. If anything he was sheepish here, offering a little wave of the bat in appreciation of the crowd’s applause as the numbers flashed up on the big screen.
But then Root is as team-first a cricketer as they come — No Ego Joe, if you will — and will probably have drawn more satisfaction from England’s position at stumps. It was a pretty healthy one, too, the hosts closing on 544 for seven and leading by 186 runs. There is rain forecast on Sunday but Shubman Gill’s men will need to get there first.
There were support acts, of course; the Richard Ashcrofts to Root’s Oasis. Ollie Pope made a frisky 71 that, over the course of 38 overs, added 144 for the third wicket alongside Root. Pope did not always exude a sense of permanence – he still jabs at the ball – but his role in a death-by-a-thousand-cuts morning of singles was important.
And Stokes continued what is becoming very much his series, that long-awaited five-wicket haul on day two followed by a punchy 77 not out. Though it was paused for a spell on 66 – a battle with cramp forcing him to retire hurt for a spell – the England captain will go into day three eyeing a first Test century for two years.
For India there was a brief spell in the afternoon when the door that Root and Pope were bolting shut creaked ajar just a slither. Washington Sundar made a mockery of his 68-over wait to have a bowl, with the drift witnessed at Lord’s harnessed once more to see Pope jab to slip and have Harry Brook gormlessly stumped on three. England were 349 for four, still trailing by nine, and the second new ball was overdue.
It was a fleeting pushback from the tourists, however, and soon their weary bodies started to fall apart. Jasprit Bumrah left the field after one over with the new ball due to an apparent ankle twinge. Mohammed Siraj got one delivery to rear up and clang Stokes in the box, only to soon follow his strike partner into the away dressing room with a hobble.
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Both men eventually returned, to their credit, and while Stokes was off the field getting treatment there was a brief flurry of wickets to give the Indian supporters a few moments of cheer. The problem for them, however, was that among them was the sight of Chis Woakes being knocked over by a ball from Siraj that kept remarkably low. When India’s time to bat again comes, it will be anything but straightforward.
But as much as the tourists frayed at the edges on this third day, most teams would have struggled with Root in such a rich vein of form. The only real inconvenience came when he was eventually stumped off Jadeja in the evening session, accidentally treading on the ball and, for a split second, giving rise to fears of something more sinister.
That aside this was another display of Root’s command of the crease, with his ability to pick up length early and manipulate the field to his will still so remarkably innate. A half-century from 93 balls, his century from 178 and little risk taken along the way. Provided Root stays fit and hungry enough – and the latter feels unlikely to diminish given his unbridled love for batting – he will surely top the lot one day.
