By Brain Thomas
The Joe Root factor remained a nightmare for India, he made his 23rd Test century and his 3rd in this series in a state-of-the-art batting display to score 121 runs to guide his team to 423 runs for 8 wickets at the close of play.
The English batsman toiled in the first session by scoring at a slow pace accumulating just 65 runs and losing both openers namely Rory Burns for 61 and Haseeb Hameed for 68. Burns had his timber disturbed off a Mohd Shami in dipper with the score of 135, whilst Hameed was undone by an arm ball of Ravindru Jadeja.
Day 2 saw both players and spectators sporting their cardigans on a chilly English Morning, with the England players wearing black bands as a mark of respect for the demise of former Captain Ted Dexter who passed away the night before.
Unlike the English seamers, their counterparts are not swingers of Duke Cherry , and the grassless pitch does not offer lateral movement, hence they have bowl back of a length, mix it with short deliveries, because pitching by pitching it up they run the risk of being cover driven or even flicked off the pads. Based on this disadvantage it was a herculean task for all theier seamers to get among the English top order.
Joe Root who joined Dawid Malan just before the Lunch break got to his run-making ways and was unbeaten on 24, with Marlan on 27.
England lost Hameed with the score on 159 , but Root and Dawid Malan took them into the mid-break on 182 for 2 wickets, which from an England perspective was picture perfect.
The new ball was taken by India with England on 226 for 2 wickets, but their bowlers lacked the firepower as Joe Root executed showed his class by playing fascinating cover drives including the back foot punch getting on top of the ball, whilst Dawid Marlen made hay when the sun shined, clipping, square cutting, executed pitched up deliveries to the cover boundary, as England quickly moved to 298 for 2 wickets. Sadly just one ball before the tea break batting on 70 he Nicked a delivery going down the leg side and on a DRS review gave Mohamed Shiraj is the first wicket for a well made 70. Joe Root remained unbeaten on 80 , as England took tea on 298 runs for 3 wickets, with the lead extending to 220.
The pre-lunch session was breathtaking to Joe Root and Dawid Malan bat in the orthodox sideways fashion, it was so easy on the eye.
Joe Root after tea got to his 100 in 124 balls, and was joined by Jhonny Baristow who made an attractive 29 , even lofting Jadeja for the only 6 of the innings. He however fell victim to a brilliant catch at the slip cordon by Virat Kholi to give India’s workhorse Shami his 2nd wicket with England on 350 for 4. Buttler didn’t last long, Shami had him caught by Ishant Sharma at short mid-wicket for 7 , with the score on 360, after which Bumrah had Joe Root bowled off an unplayable Yorker for 121 , but this genius of a batsman departed after having done the damage.
Jadega got Mohin Ali caught for 8, giving himself his second scalp, however, England moved to 418 for 7 wickets with Sam Curren and Craig Overton, played a few delightful strokes, before Curren was caught by Agrawal the substitute at deep fine leg, for 15 , and England ended the day on high with Overton unbeaten on 23 , whilst Robinson is still to open his account.
For India Shami has 3 scalps, Jadeja and Siraj account for a couple, whilst Bumrah had that 1 prize scalp of the man of the day Joe Root.
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