Leeds Test: Root's three in three leave India battered

ENGLAND captain Joe Root continued with his superhuman form in 2021 as well as in the ongoing Test series against India by slamming yet another hundred on the second day (26) of the third Test at Headingley.

The England captain, who scored 180 not out in Lord’s but yet ended up in the losing side, came out to bat with his side nicely placed at 159 for 2 in response to the Asian side’s paltry first innings score of 78. He hit 121 in just 165 balls (14 fours) to lengthen India’s woes and when Jasprit Bumrah bowled Root, the Three Lions were at 383, having taken a massive 305-run lead.

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India captain Virat Kohli during Day 2 of the Third Test Match between England and India at Emerald Headingley Stadium on August 26, 2021. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

Root's 23rd Test century creates records

It was Root’s 23rd Test ton which now looks certain to give England a series-levelling win. The 30-year-old, who is approaching 10,000 runs in the long format, also created some record with his brilliant knock. He has now broken the record of former opener Alastair Cook’s record of scoring most runs in a calendar year as an England captain. Cook did it twice before – 1,364 runs in 2015 and 1,270 runs in 2016.

Also, Root now has 39 international hundreds (16 in one-day internationals) which also means he has overtaken Cook to score most centuries for the Three Lions in all formats.

Root, who scored 109 in the first Test against India at Trent Bridge, equalled another former England captain Kevin Pietersen in the list of most number of Test centuries for their country. Cook tops this list with 33 tons. Root might still be 10 centuries behind Cook but he has scored as many Test centuries as the captain of England (12) as Cook.

Dawid Malan, who replaced an out-of-form Dom Sibley in Leeds, scored 70 off 128 balls after the England openers – Rory Burns (61 off 153) and Haseeb Hameed (68 off 195) gave the home team a solid launching pad to bat India out of the game.

The Indian bowlers, who produced a brilliant performance in Lord’s by taking all 10 England wickets in less than two sessions to give their side a victory, looked toothless at Headingley, allowing the English batsmen to extend their lead to over 345 at stumps on Day 2 with two wickets yet to be claimed. England finished the day at 423 for 8 with Craig Overton (24) and Ollie Robinson (0) remaining unbeaten.

Mohammed Shami was the most successful Indian bowler with three wickets for 87 runs while Mohammed Siraj took two for 86 and spinner Ravindra Jadeja two for 88. The Indian spearheads disappointed as Bumrah took the lone wicket of Root for 57 runs while Ishant Sharma was yet to get a reward.

Brief scores: India 78 all out (Rohit Sharma 19, James Anderson 3 for 6) vs England 423 for 8 (Joe Root 121, Dawid Malan 70, Mohammed Shami 3 for 87) at stumps on Day 2