Joe Root hit a superb second century in the same game as England dominated Day 3 of the second Test against Sri Lanka at Lord’s in London.
Despite Sri Lanka’s efforts to chip away with wickets at regular intervals, they were unable to contain England’s momentum.
Root, who has been in sublime form, anchored the innings once again, scoring his 34th Test century, which also made him England’s leading century-maker in Test Cricket, surpassing the legendary Alastair Cook.
England’s second innings eventually concluded at 251, with the hosts setting a daunting target of 483 runs for Sri Lanka to chase down in order to square the series.
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Once again, Fernando was the pick of the bowling for Sri Lanka as picked up 3 for 52, while Kumara also bagged three scalps.
Sri Lanka’s chase got off to a shaky start, with Madushka falling early, edging a delivery to slip off the bowling of Atkinson. Things were not going well for them as Stone struck soon after, removing Nissanka cheaply, leaving them at 43/2.
The play was eventually called off early due to bad light, with Sri Lanka ending the day at 53/2, still needing a staggering 430 runs.
Karunaratne, who has had a quiet series so far, looked more composed at the crease this time with nightwatchman Jayasuriya.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Duckett | c Lahiru Kumara b Prabath Jayasuriya | 40 | 47 | 4 | 0 | 85.11 |
| Dan Lawrence | c Nishan Madushka b Lahiru Kumara | 9 | 22 | 2 | 0 | 40.91 |
| Ollie Pope | c Dhananjaya de Silva b Asitha Fernando | 1 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10.00 |
| Joe Root | c Pathum Nissanka b Milan Rathnayake | 143 | 206 | 18 | 0 | 69.42 |
| Harry Brook | lbw b Asitha Fernando | 33 | 45 | 5 | 0 | 73.33 |
| Jamie Smith | c Nishan Madushka b Milan Rathnayake | 21 | 57 | 4 | 0 | 36.84 |
| Chris Woakes | c Asitha Fernando b Lahiru Kumara | 6 | 27 | 1 | 0 | 22.22 |
| Gus Atkinson | c Milan Rathnayake b Asitha Fernando | 118 | 115 | 14 | 4 | 102.61 |
| Matthew Potts | c Nishan Madushka b Asitha Fernando | 21 | 43 | 4 | 0 | 48.84 |
| Olly Stone | c Kusal Mendis b Asitha Fernando | 15 | 31 | 1 | 0 | 48.39 |
| Shoaib Bashir | not out | 7 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 70.00 |
| Extras | 13 (b 8 , lb 4 , nb 1, w 0, pen 0) |
| Total | 427/10 (102 Overs, RR: 4.19) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asitha Fernando | 24 | 2 | 102 | 5 | 4.25 | |
| Milan Rathnayake | 23 | 2 | 89 | 2 | 3.87 | |
| Lahiru Kumara | 23 | 2 | 101 | 2 | 4.39 | |
| Prabath Jayasuriya | 29 | 2 | 96 | 1 | 3.31 | |
| Kamindu Mendis | 3 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 9.00 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nishan Madushka | b Chris Woakes | 7 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 46.67 |
| Dimuth Karunaratne | b Olly Stone | 7 | 26 | 1 | 0 | 26.92 |
| Pathum Nissanka | c Matthew Potts b Olly Stone | 12 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 66.67 |
| Angelo Mathews | b Matthew Potts | 22 | 36 | 3 | 0 | 61.11 |
| Dinesh Chandimal | c Dan Lawrence b Gus Atkinson | 23 | 33 | 3 | 0 | 69.70 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | c Harry Brook b Matthew Potts | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Kamindu Mendis | c Chris Woakes b Gus Atkinson | 74 | 120 | 8 | 3 | 61.67 |
| Milan Rathnayake | c Jamie Smith b Chris Woakes | 19 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 135.71 |
| Prabath Jayasuriya | b Shoaib Bashir | 8 | 46 | 0 | 0 | 17.39 |
| Lahiru Kumara | run out (Ollie Pope) | 0 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Asitha Fernando | not out | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Extras | 23 (b 8 , lb 13 , nb 1, w 1, pen 0) |
| Total | 196/10 (55.3 Overs, RR: 3.53) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Woakes | 13 | 4 | 21 | 2 | 1.62 | |
| Gus Atkinson | 8.3 | 2 | 40 | 2 | 4.82 | |
| Olly Stone | 13 | 0 | 70 | 2 | 5.38 | |
| Matthew Potts | 11 | 4 | 19 | 2 | 1.73 | |
| Shoaib Bashir | 7 | 1 | 21 | 1 | 3.00 | |
| Joe Root | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1.33 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Duckett | c Angelo Mathews b Milan Rathnayake | 24 | 38 | 2 | 0 | 63.16 |
| Dan Lawrence | c Nishan Madushka b Lahiru Kumara | 7 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 58.33 |
| Ollie Pope | c Prabath Jayasuriya b Asitha Fernando | 17 | 38 | 1 | 0 | 44.74 |
| Joe Root | c Kamindu Mendis b Lahiru Kumara | 103 | 121 | 2 | 0 | 85.12 |
| Harry Brook | c Nishan Madushka b Prabath Jayasuriya | 37 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 102.78 |
| Jamie Smith | lbw b Prabath Jayasuriya | 26 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 76.47 |
| Chris Woakes | c Pathum Nissanka b Milan Rathnayake | 5 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Gus Atkinson | c Lahiru Kumara b Asitha Fernando | 14 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 116.67 |
| Matthew Potts | c Dinesh Chandimal b Asitha Fernando | 2 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 22.22 |
| Olly Stone | c Pathum Nissanka b Lahiru Kumara | 7 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 43.75 |
| Shoaib Bashir | not out | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Extras | 8 (b 0 , lb 5 , nb 1, w 2, pen 0) |
| Total | 251/10 (53.3 Overs, RR: 4.69) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asitha Fernando | 12 | 0 | 52 | 3 | 4.33 | |
| Lahiru Kumara | 12.3 | 0 | 53 | 3 | 4.31 | |
| Milan Rathnayake | 9 | 1 | 36 | 2 | 4.00 | |
| Prabath Jayasuriya | 20 | 2 | 105 | 2 | 5.25 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nishan Madushka | c Joe Root b Gus Atkinson | 13 | 25 | 1 | 0 | 52.00 |
| Dimuth Karunaratne | c Jamie Smith b Olly Stone | 55 | 129 | 7 | 0 | 42.64 |
| Pathum Nissanka | c Joe Root b Olly Stone | 14 | 24 | 3 | 0 | 58.33 |
| Prabath Jayasuriya | c Harry Brook b Chris Woakes | 4 | 41 | 0 | 0 | 9.76 |
| Angelo Mathews | c Chris Woakes b Shoaib Bashir | 36 | 91 | 3 | 0 | 39.56 |
| Dinesh Chandimal | c Dan Lawrence b Gus Atkinson | 58 | 62 | 11 | 0 | 93.55 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | b Gus Atkinson | 50 | 71 | 7 | 0 | 70.42 |
| Kamindu Mendis | c Ben Duckett b Gus Atkinson | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 80.00 |
| Milan Rathnayake | c Jamie Smith b Gus Atkinson | 43 | 56 | 7 | 0 | 76.79 |
| Lahiru Kumara | c Olly Stone b Chris Woakes | 10 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 76.92 |
| Asitha Fernando | not out | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 5 (b 4 , lb 1 , nb 0, w 0, pen 0) |
| Total | 292/10 (86.4 Overs, RR: 3.37) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Woakes | 19.4 | 8 | 46 | 1 | 2.37 | |
| Gus Atkinson | 16 | 4 | 62 | 5 | 3.88 | |
| Shoaib Bashir | 23 | 1 | 78 | 1 | 3.39 | |
| Joe Root | 4 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 2.25 | |
| Matthew Potts | 11 | 2 | 34 | 0 | 3.09 | |
| Olly Stone | 12 | 0 | 56 | 2 | 4.67 | |
| Dan Lawrence | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2.00 | |
