Joe Root scored a record-equalling 33rd Test hundred as England established a strong position against Sri Lanka on the first day of the second Test at Lord’s on Thursday.
England, 42-2 when Root came in to bat, reached stumps on 358-7, with the star batsman having made 143 — his sixth Test century at the ‘Home of Cricket’.
No other England top-order batsman made more than Ben Duckett’s 40.
But fast bowler Gus Atkinson was 74 not out at the close — his maiden Test fifty in just five matches at this level — after providing Root with excellent support in a seventh-wicket stand of 92 in 19 overs.
Earlier, Ollie Pope was out in single figures for his third successive innings as England’s stand-in captain, with Sri Lanka taking three wickets before lunch after winning the toss.
Despite the sunny conditions, Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva decided to field first, with his side looking to level this three-match series at 1-1 following England’s five-wicket win in the first Test at Old Trafford last week.
It looked a questionable move when left-handed opener Duckett scored three fours in an over off Asitha Fernando.
But makeshift opener Dan Lawrence fell for nine when caught behind off Lahiru Kumara, recalled in place of Vishwa Fernando.
– Pope perishes –
Pope, twice out for six at Old Trafford in his debut match as England skipper in place of the still-injured Ben Stokes, had made just one when he top-edged a pull off paceman Fernando and De Silva held a well-judged catch as he ran back from square leg.
Not for the first time in his long England career, the 33-year-old Root came in with the innings in the balance.
He was on 11 when rapped on the pad by a full-length Kumara delivery to spark a raucous lbw appeal.
Paul Reiffel ruled not out, with Sri Lanka’s review seeing the decision upheld on umpire’s call.
But no reviews were needed when left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya struck with just his fourth ball, Duckett top-edging a reverse scoop to Kumara on the point boundary as his 47-ball 40 came to a disappointing end.
Former captain Root took guard fresh from his match-clinching 62 not out at Old Trafford, with England faltering at 97-3 come lunch at Lord’s.
Root shared stands of 48 and 62 with Harry Brook (33) and wicketkeeper Jamie Smith (21), who scored his maiden Test century at Old Trafford.
Chris Woakes, however, carelessly pulled Fernando straight to long leg on six to leave England 216-6.
Root, 81 not out at tea, spent 12 balls on 99 and the 33-year-old almost played onto Kumara when one run shy of a century.
But Root, opening the face, elegantly guided the paceman for four between slip and gully to complete a hundred, his sixth in Tests at Lord’s, with his 13th four in 162 balls faced.
That meant Root drew level with fellow former England captain Cook’s record of 33 Test centuries, but in his 145th match compared to the retired opener’s career tally of 161 games at this level.
By reaching three figures, Root moved into joint-tenth place in an all-time list of Test century-makers headed by India’s Sachin Tendulkar, who scored 51 hundreds in 200 Tests.
But Root, who made his Test debut in 2012, is the only active cricketer in this elite group, with all the others now retired from international duty.
Having batted in largely classical fashion, Root was out when he skyed an unorthodox ramp off fast bowler Milan Rathnayake to Pathum Nissanka at point, with England then 308-7.
But Atkinson, who drove Jayasuriya for two superb straight sixes, went to fifty in just 61 balls when he cover-drove Rathnayake for a textbook four.
And the 26-year-old took a toll of the new ball too, pulling Kumara for six over midwicket.
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