Joe Root surpasses Sir Alastair Cook’s record for England Test hundreds

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Joe Root’s 34th Test century for England helped them give Sri Lanka a most improbable score of 483 to level the series.

Root equalled Sir Alastair Cook’s national milestone this week and the Yorkshireman now leads the way, having scored a hundred runs in both innings for the first time in his glittering 145-Test career.

His final effort from just 111 balls was also his fastest, while his majestic 103 in England’s 251 all out saw Root overtake Graham Gooch for the most Test runs at Lord’s with 2,022.

England’s second innings was all about limiting the damage to Sri Lanka, who need to set a world record to decide the three-match series at the Oval next week.

Although Ollie Pope reached double figures for the first time in four innings since leading England in the absence of Ben Stokes, his decision to tackle Sri Lanka’s formidable attack backfired.

A deliberate attack from Asitha Fernando’s first ball took the lone fielder to the off-side boundary and he was out for a tricky 17 after he and Ben Duckett resumed play on day three with England 256 ahead.

Pope was caught between bat and pad by Lahiru Kumara and then had to take a blow to his right elbow from the fast bowler, but Duckett was the first to score for 24 when Angelo Mathews grabbed the ball from a parry from Nishan Madushka.

Root moved his first four strokes between empty slip and gully, while Pope reached double figures with his first boundary and then survived a Sri Lanka review for lbw, with the ball just over the stumps.

It was a false dawn, however. While there could be no fault in Pope’s intentions, his execution was aborted when he telegraphed to Sri Lanka that the field would spread, stepped to his leg and cut to deep backward point.

Harry Brook got a life on nine after he beat Prabath Jayasuriya, with Madushka shooting a skier. Undaunted, Brook got down on one knee again and went for the same shot, this time with a six.

Brook unfurled a couple of fine off-side drives but couldn’t capitalise on the drop after holing out to deep midwicket, while Jayasuriya finally had his man for a breezy 37 from 36 balls. Jamie Smith was equally fluent with 26 but missed a sweep from Jayasuriya and was given lbw.

Root had earlier experimented with Jayasuriya with two conventional sweeps for square and then a reverse for three fours in an over after he had gone to 50, celebrating with a trademark late cut for four.

He missed his patented reverse ramp – the stroke had proved fatal in his first innings of 143 – but the only danger seemed to be that he was out of partners, with Chris Woakes and Gus Atkinson departing cheaply, the latter with a remarkable reverse slices pull.

Root was running hard in the 90s, but after a few nervous moments on 98, he stepped back and guided Kumara through empty cover-point for his seventh Test ton at Lord’s – another record.

Root was the last man out after taking Kumara to Mendis on the border and an early tea was taken.