Joe Root continues his fine run against India, England dominate Fourth Test with 186-run lead

MANCHESTER: A fine knock of 150 by Joe Root during which he smashed several records, and a resillient half-century by Ben Stokes put England on the driver’s seat in the fourth Test at Manchester on Friday. The hosts have a lead by 186 runs.

At the day end of third day, England were 544/7, with Stokes (77*) and Liam Dawson (21*) unbeaten.

England started the final session at 433/4, with Root (121*) and skipper Stokes (36*) unbeaten. In a positive, Jasprit Bumrah was back opening the bowling following some trouble with his walk in the second session. England reached the 450-run mark in 105.4 overs.

During the 108nd over, Stokes attempted a reverse-sweep against Washington Sundar, but held his left leg, indicating some troubles with his hamstring or calf. Nonetheless, he reached his first fifty of the series, with three fours, in 97 balls.

After some quick runs against spin duo of Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja, he walked off the field unbeaten at 66*, limping.
Root reached his 150 in 246 balls, with 14 fours.

After drinks, a sharply spinning delivery from Jadeja helped India get rid of Root for 150 in 248 balls, with 14 fours. Dhruv Jurel pulled off a fine stumping behind the stumps. England was five down at 499.

England reached the 500-run mark in 119.4 overs.

India got back into the game with two quick wickets, as Bumrah got Jamie Smith caught by Jurel for 9 while Mohammed Siraj left Chris Woakes stumps dismantled for four. Both workhorses got their due after long hours of persistence, leaving England at 528/7.

Stokes, having retired hurt earlier, walked back to the field.

Stokes and Dawson made sure England ended their day without any other loss of wicket.

Root and Stokes added 84 off 131 balls at tea; the visitors were at 433/4, leading by 75 runs with Root on 121* and Stokes on 36* unbeaten on the crease.England started the second session on 332/2, with Pope (70*) and Root (63*) unbeaten, trailing by 26 runs.Washington Sundar was introduced into the attack after Lunch, and immediately delivered two wickets, dismissing Ollie Pope and Harry Brook.

Stokes joined Stokes on the crease. The duo completed 50 runs, standing for the fifth wicket in the 94th over, and in the same over, the hosts crossed the 400 runs mark.Root slammed his 38th Test hundred after pushing the ball towards fine leg for a four off Anshul Kamboj in the 96th over. This was the 23rd Test hundred for Root in England, the joint-most for anyone in home Tests alongside Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis and Mahela Jayawardene.

He continues to show his love for scoring against India, as he surpassed Steve Smith to slam the most centuries against them in Test cricket. Root now has 12 hundreds against the Men in Blue.

Earlier in the match, a century partnership between Ollie Pope and Root brought England within touching distance of India’s first innings score as the Three Lions finished the first session with a score in excess of 300 runs on day three.

At the start of the first session, England was 225/2, with Pope (20*) and Root (11*) unbeaten. England started off the day with a positive intent, with Mohammed Siraj leaking some runs and India missing out on a run-out chance to remove Root.Eventually, the duo reached their 50-run partnership.
With a fine shot for four against Bumrah, Pope helped England reach 250-run mark in 54.5 overs, as he attempted a fine pull shot through backward square leg, finding a gap in the leg side.

After his 31st run, Root overtook Rahul Dravid and Jacques Kallis to become the third-highest run-getter of all time. The relentless grind of Indian pacers Bumrah, Siraj and Anshul Kamboj did not pay off as Root-Pope continued to amass runs at a solid tempo.

Pope was back among the runs, bringing up his fifty in 93 balls, with six fours. Kamnoj missed a chance to dismiss Pope in the 63rd over as wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel could not catch the ball as Pope tried to guide the ball through the third man region.It was a tough chance, but a missed opportunity nonetheless.

A beautiful straight drive by Pope on a full-length delivery by Kamboj helped the duo reach their 100-run partnership in 172 balls.England reached the 300-run mark in 66.5 overs. Root also reached his half-century in 99 balls, with six fours.

The duo continued to fine runs against the spin pair of Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar. Root and Pope made sure England finished the session on a high.

Brief Scores: England: 544/7 (Joe Root 150, Ben Stokes 77, Ravindra Jadeja 2/117) vs India: 358 (Sai Sudharsan 61, Rishabh Pant 58, Ben Stokes 5/72). (ANI)