NEWS
Follow UsJoe Root is going through a highly profitable phase in his career where nothing much has gone wrong for him. He equalled the record of Alastair Cook in the first innings of the second England-Sri Lanka Test, scoring 143 to bring up his 33rd Test ton. Cook, who was commentating on this game for the BBC Test Match Special, didn’t have to wait much longer for his record to finally be broken.
The Yorkshire batter brought up another ton in the second innings, scoring 103 runs in just 121 balls. This century came in just 111 deliveries and was the fastest Test match century for Root in his long career that began in India in 2012. This was also his seventh century at Lord’s, a feat no other batter on the planet has managed to match.
It was quite fateful that the BBC had Cook in commentary at the time, and the former England captain didn’t hold back his praise for the batter he had admired from the moment he set foot in international cricket.
“He is quite simply England's greatest, and it's right that he should have this record on his own. We are watching a genius,” Cook said.
“The game was in the balance, and he walked out to bat with his England cap on, looking 13, a massive smile on his face. I watched his first few balls, and I was like, 'This bloke is here to stay.' I honestly said, 'He's scoring 10,000 runs.' I don't know who I said it to, but I know that I said it."
I don't think there's a batsman that I can remember watching play...the sense of inevitability about scoring runs that Joe Root gives off. I called it when he was on about 6 today, that he was going to get 100. I know he's in great form, but it's just a pleasure to watch a master, a craftsman at work
Cook especially praised Root for his risk free, consistently run-scoring batting against the spinner Prabhat Jayasuriya during the second innings. He scored 60 off 59 deliveries against the tweaker.
“The spinner was bowling today, and quite honestly, he could have hit him wherever he wanted and absolutely no risk. This is the art of batting: low-risk shots which score you runs,” Cook remarked.
With the help of Root’s 34th Test ton, England scored 251 in the second innings, giving Sri Lanka a target of nearly 500. At 53/2 at the end of Day 3, the Lankan batters need 430 more runs.
Earlier in the first innings, Root was effortless in his run scoring, and his 143 along with Gus Atkinson’s entertaining knock of 118 (115) took England to 427. Sri Lanka folded meekly for 196 in 55.3 overs in their first innings, and Kamindu Mendis (74) was the only batter who could bat with some authority.
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