Joe Root continues to etch his name deeper into cricket's history books with another landmark performance at the iconic Lord's Cricket Ground. The former England captain has now scored the most runs by any batter at Lord's across all formats, amassing 2526 runs in 33 matches at the "Home of Cricket." With this, he has surpassed Graham Gooch, who previously held the record with 2513 runs. Root's knock also marked his 103rd fifty-plus score in Test cricket, comprising 36 centuries and 67 fifties putting him joint second on the all-time list alongside Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting. The trio trails only Sachin Tendulkar, who leads with 119 fifty-plus scores in Test matches.
In addition to his feats at Lord's, Root reached another historic milestone, becoming the first player in the history of Test cricket to score 3000 runs against India. He now has 3054 runs in 33 Tests against India, including 10 centuries, and becomes only the third batter to achieve more than 3000 runs in a non-Ashes Test rivalry. The other two are Gary Sobers, who scored 3214 runs against England, and Sachin Tendulkar, who racked up 3630 runs against Australia.
Root is also on the verge of surpassing another major benchmark. If he converts his current innings into a century on Friday, it would be his 37th Test hundred, moving him past Australia's Steve Smith and India's Rahul Dravid (both with 36 Test centuries) to become the fifth-highest century-maker in Test cricket history. It would also be his 55th international century, tying him with Hashim Amla for the joint-sixth most centuries across all formats.
At the end of the day's play following the third session, England was 251/4, with Root (99*) and skipper Stokes (39*) unbeaten. After a balanced first session, which saw Nitish Kumar Reddy strike twice, England largely dominated the next two with more traditional Test cricket as compared to their attacking 'Bazball' cricket, despite strikes from Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah. With a run-rate of 3,02, it was a pretty slow day of cricket according to Stokes-McCullum regime's standards.
England started the final session at 153/2, with Root (54*) and Ollie Pope (44*) unbeaten.
Ravindra Jadeja finally broke the 109-run stand, striking on the very first ball of the session with wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel taking a sharp catch. Pope was back in the hut for 44 in 104 balls, with four boundaries. England was 153/3 in 49.1 overs.
The newly-crowned number one Test batter Harry Brook was next up on the crease, starting positively with fours against Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah. However, in a battle of number ones, Bumrah's nip-backer went right through Brook's stumps, removing him for 11 in 20 balls. England was 172/4 in 54.5 overs.
A single off Mohammed Siraj's delivery by skipper Ben Stokes brought England's 200-run mark in 64 overs.
Stokes and Root played it safe, resorting to more traditional Test cricket, reaching their 50-run mark in 100 balls.
The duo made sure that England did not lose any more wickets, ending the session on a positive note, with Root left stranded on 99*.
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