Joe Root overtakes Jacques Kallis on all-time Test list as England dominate India
Image: Ben Stansall/AFP
Joe Root climbed to third on the all-time list of Test run-scorers on Friday as England tightened their grip on the fourth match of the series against India.
The home team, 2-1 up in the five-Test series, were 332-2 at lunch on the third day at Old Trafford, just 26 runs behind India's first-innings total of 358.
Ollie Pope was 70 not out and Root unbeaten on 63.
Root, appearing in his 157th Test, moved past India's Rahul Dravid and South Africa's Jacques Kallis on the all-time run-scorers list in the course of his innings.
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Only Australia's Ricky Ponting (13,378 runs) and India's Sachin Tendulkar (15,921) are now ahead of the 34-year-old Englishman and are both retired.
England resumed on 225-2 following a blistering opening partnership of 166 in 32 overs between Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett on day two, with Pope 20 not out and Root on 11.
India's pacemen had too often been wayward on Thursday and Jasprit Bumrah, the world's top-ranked Test bowler, saw his first ball Friday drift down the legside to be clipped away for four by Root in elegant fashion.
Root then uppercut Mohammed Siraj over the slips for another boundary.
On 21, the former England skipper walked a long away across his stumps only to miss an intended glance off Siraj.
India reviewed for lbw after Ahsan Raza ruled in Root's favour but replays upheld the Pakistani umpire's decision, indicating the ball would have missed leg stump.
There was another scare when Root, on 22, was nearly run out but Ravindra Jadeja's shy at the stump missed.
Root then square-drove Bumrah for four in stylish fashion before a single off the paceman took him past Dravid and level with Kallis.
An offside single off Siraj took him into sole possession of third place, with Root's achievement greeted by applause and familiar shouts of "Rooot" from the sun-drenched crowd in Manchester.
Pope, who drove Siraj for a superb four between cover and mid-off, completed a 93-ball fifty before Root followed him to the landmark in 99 balls faced.
India captain Shubman Gill brought on Jadeja and fellow spinner Washington Sundar in a bid to separate England's third-wicket duo but could not engineer a breakthrough.
AFP
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