Manchester: Joe Root racked up his 38th hundred as England extended their dominance over India by reaching 433 for four at tea on day three of the fourth Test here on Friday.
Washington Sundar got the ball to drift and got rid of Ollie Pope (71 off 128 balls) and Harry Brook (3 off 12) after lunch, providing a much-needed relief for India after a wicketless morning session.
Root (121 batting off 201), however, continued to pile on the runs and reached three figures with a four down the leg side off Anshul Kamboj, laying the foundation for the hosts’ 75-run lead.
Minutes later, he also surpassed Ricky Ponting to become the second highest run-scorer in Tests, leaving him only behind Sachin Tendulkar, who amassed 15921 runs.
India employed spinners Washington and Ravindra Jadeja from both ends despite taking the new ball. The move worked as Sundar had Pope caught at first slip before having Brook stumped as he could not connect on the charge.
Root chose to play on the backfoot when the spinners were in operation and used the reverse sweep effectively.
Towards the end of the session, Root took a single off Kamboj to get past the great Ponting in the all-time leading run-getters list.
England captain Ben Stokes (36 batting off 68) chugged along at the other end as he and Root shared an unbeaten 84-run alliance for the fifth wicket.
Bumrah bowling just one over with the new ball before leaving the field added to India’s woes. When he finally returned to bowl, the umpires reminded him that he was only allowed to bowl post tea.
In the morning session, the Indian bowlers did not pose enough threat for the seasoned Root and Ollie Pope who steered England to 332 for two at lunch.
After a forgettable evening session on day two, the Indian bowling attack once again failed to make inroads into the England batting.
Besides an odd ball keeping low from the James Anderson end and another jumping from the opposite side, Bumrah and Co did not trouble Root and Pope.
Guilty of offering too many freebies on the leg side on Thursday, the Indian pacers continued to offer loose balls to release pressure on the opposition.
Bumrah bowled a full ball into Root’s pads to start his day and the England veteran duly flicked it for a four. Later in his spell, Pope and
Root were quick to pull Bumrah for a boundary each when the Indian pace spearhead pitched it short.
Resuming the day at 225 for two, England eased to 266 for two in the first hour of play.
Kamboj, who had an underwhelming start to his Test career on day two, created a chance in his opening spell but Dhruv Jurel could not hold on to a tough chance. Pope was 48 at the time.
Washington was introduced as late as the 69th over and Root put him under pressure straightaway by reverse sweeping him for a boundary.
