Record-breaking Root puts England in control and in sight of series win
Yorkshire batter Root strolled to a staggering 38th Test hundred, before passing another milestone in climbing above former Australia captain Ricky Ponting into second place in the all-time list as he reached 121 not out just before tea.
England skipper Ben Stokes, plagued by injuries in recent years, retired hurt with cramp in the evening session when on 66, safe in the knowledge his side would remain in the driving seat in his absence.
Root eventually was stumped off the bowling of Ravindra Jadeja, but the damage to India's resolve had been done.
Jamie Smith and Chris Woakes followed Root back to the pavilion, with Stokes re-emerging to add more runs to his total, finishing the day unbeaten 77, alongside Liam Dawson on 21.
With two days still to play, England are firm favourites to secure the win in Manchester, one that would seal victory in the five-match series with one Test still to come.
"Joe is something we have become accustomed to in the past few years," England number three Ollie Pope told reporters.
"The way he goes about his cricket, the way he trains is amazing, he is a joy to watch who keeps getting better and better. From a team perspective it is amazing to have him. We try not to rely on him, but the way he constantly steps up is amazing. The number of hundreds are ridiculous.
"He would have been aware of the records. He is not a massive one for landmarks, but that is a pretty cool one today."
Root overtook South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis to go third in the rankings in Friday's morning session, with his 104th score of fifty or more — only India great Sachin Tendulkar has more in Test cricket — steering untroubled England to 332-2 at lunch.
The 34-year-old's morning was not without concern, as he survived one leg before wicket appeal before almost being run out when on 22. Otherwise he remained his customary composed self to steady the ship and keep England in command.
Pope played his part in an impressive first session, but the England number three fell for 71 in the third over after lunch. Washington Sundar quickly struck again to remove Harry Brook to give India hope of dragging themselves back into the contest.
Root had other ideas. A boundary brought up his century, moving him level with Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara's tally of 38, joint fourth on the all-time hundreds list. The veteran then passed Ponting's 13,378 Test runs to great ovation from the Old Trafford crowd.
After Stokes limped off, Root was stumped with Smith not lasting much longer, managing only nine runs before edging one through to the wicketkeeper.
Woakes was unable to deal with one that kept low, bringing Stokes quickly back out to the middle. The skipper was moving a little more freely. England will be hoping he can make a full recovery to be able to excel with the ball once more to secure series victory.
"Much better with the ball today. Yesterday was a tough day at the office," India bowling coach Morne Morkel said. "We missed our line, but the boys responded this morning which was good to see. We tried our best to create opportunities.
"A big thing in this innings is we are struggling to create pressure from both ends. We need to bowl in partnerships and we are not doing that right now. England have a powerful batting line up but at times we lacked energy on the ball."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Gulf Today
8 hours ago
- Gulf Today
Injured captain Stokes ruled out of 5th Test, England make 4 changes
England captain Ben Stokes has been ruled out of the fifth and final test against India with a right shoulder injury. Ollie Pope, who bats at No. 3, will replace Stokes as captain for the test at the Oval in London, the England and Wales Cricket Board said on Wednesday. Play begins Thursday, with India trailing 2-1 in the series and needing a win to draw. Stokes said he expects to be sidelined for up to seven weeks, which should in no way impact his participation in this winter's Ashes series in Australia. But he felt it was clearly too risky playing one more test against India. 'It is one of those of weighing up the risk-reward, and the risk was way too high for damaging this any further than it currently is,' he said. 'I wouldn't expect to put any of my players at risk with an injury like this. Once this series is done, I was feet up anyway (so) it doesn't really make too much difference to what I've got from the end of the series up until the winter.' The first test against Australia is on Nov. 21 and England will be counting on Stokes to help wrestle back the urn from Australia, which has held it since 2018. England has not won the Ashes since 2015 and has not won the Ashes in Australia since 2011. The 34-year-old Stokes was back to his inspirational best as an allrounder in last week's drawn fourth test, taking five wickets against India with some brilliant hostile and accurate spells, and finding his batting form again with an authoritative knock of 141 for his long-awaited 14th test century. He became England's fourth player to get five wickets and a century in a test. Stokes is the leading wicket taker across both teams with 17 - three more than Indian pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, with a lower average than both. But bowling long spells clearly took its toll on Stokes, who has struggled with injuries in recent years. He was hit by a bout of cramp on day 3. The intensity of the series so far has led to fatigue and injuries on both sides. India's batting star Rishabh Pant has been ruled out of the fifth test with a foot fracture. He made 54 in the fourth test, despite playing with the injury. England will also be without pacers Jofra Archer - who only recently returned to test cricket after more than four years out - and Brydon Carse. Spinner Liam Dawson is also left out in one of four changes. Jacob Bethell replaces Stokes at No. 6 in the batting line up, while Gus Atkinson returns to bolster England's attack, along with Jamie Overton and Josh Tongue. The 21-year-old Bethell has been regarded as one of the brightest talents in English cricket for many years, with a batting average of 52 from this three tests so far and a high score of 96. He is also a useful left-arm spinner. The fourth test ended with tensions between the teams, with Stokes saying his opposite number Shubman Gill should have accepted his offer of a draw with the match heading toward an inevitable stalemate. But Gill chose to wait until Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar - whose watchful and stubborn long partnership helped save the test - had completed their centuries. On Tuesday, India head coach Gautam Gambhir clashed with ground staff at the Oval. Video footage showed Gambhir in a confrontation with Lee Fortis, the lead curator at the ground. Stokes is preparing himself for an 'emotional' tribute to Graham Thorpe when the late former England batsman is honoured during this week's fifth and deciding Test against India at the Oval. Thorpe took his own life on Aug.4, 2024, having batted depression and anxiety for several years, with police confirming he had died following an incident on a railway line near his home. The left-handed batsman, who spent his entire professional career in south London with Oval-based Surrey, scored 6,744 Test runs at an average of 44.66 in 100 matches from 1993 to 2005. He later held various coaching positions, including a role as England's batting chief, where he worked with current players such as Test captain Stokes and Joe Root. A Day for Thorpey will be held on Friday, August 1 in support of mental health charity Mind on what would have been his 56th birthday. 'Thorpey's been a very influential character as a player and a coach in English cricket,' Stokes told reporters at the Oval on Wednesday. Agencies
Khaleej Times
16 hours ago
- Khaleej Times
Bumrah not ruled out of fifth Test, says India captain Gill
India captain Shubman Gill has refused to rule pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah out of contention for the fifth Test against England starting at the Oval on Thursday. Bumrah, who is the joint-leading wicket taker in the series with 14, was expected to miss the decisive clash as India's medical staff want to manage his workload. But Gill said any decision would be left late. "We will take a decision (on Bumrah) tomorrow; the wicket looks very green. So we will see how it turns out," Gill told a press conference at the Oval on Wednesday. Bumrah was scheduled to play only three of the five Tests and has already featured in the opener at Headingley and the back-to-back tests at Lord's and Old Trafford. Akash Deep? Or Arshdeep? India need to win the final Test to level the series 2-2. "2-2 will be very significant for this team," Gill said. "Every match we have played, it was difficult to decide the winner after the first four days." Should Bumrah miss out, India would likely select Akash Deep or even hand a debut to Arshdeep Singh. "He has been asked to get ready but we will take a call on the playing eleven after looking at the pitch by this evening," Gill said. "England haven't gone with a frontline spinner. "We have Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar, who have done such a good job with the ball and the bat. On that front, it's a no-brainer for us." India are without wicket keeper Rishabh Pant, ruled out by a foot injury in the fourth Test which ended in a draw on Sunday. Dhruv Jurel is set to stand in. 'Absolutely unnecessary' The build-up to the series finale has been overshadowed by a spat on Tuesday between India head coach Gautam Gambhir and the ground staff at the Oval after Gambhir tried to take a close look at the square. Gill said the incident was "absolutely unnecessary". "It's not the first time that we were having a look at the wicket, we have been there for almost two months," he said. "A coach has every right to be able to go close quarters and have a look at the wicket and I didn't think there was anything wrong with that. I actually don't know why the curator would not allow us to go have a look at the wicket. "All of us have played so much cricket, we have gone to the pitches so many times, including the coaches and captain, I don't know what the fuss was about." Gill eyes another record Captaincy appears to be doing wonders for the career of previously inconsistent batsman Gill. The elegant 25-year-old scored his fourth century of an extraordinary debut series as skipper at Old Trafford. He came in with the tourists in dire straits at 0-2 in their second innings, responding with a marathon 103 in 238 balls that laid the foundations for a great escape. Gill has set a new record for the most runs scored by an India batsman in a series against England of 722, surpassing team-mate Yashasvi Jaiswal's tally of 712 in 2023/24. At the Oval he could eclipse Sunil Gavaskar's all-time India series record of 774 runs, set in a four-match campaign against the West Indies in 1971.
Int'l Cricket Council
18 hours ago
- Int'l Cricket Council
Gill reveals Bumrah's status for final Test against England ICC World Test Championship
As Shubman Gill and India prepare for the deciding final Test match against England, all eyes are on star pacer Jasprit Bumrah and his availability at The Oval. Gill remained tight-lipped on the ace pacer's availability, stating that a decision would be made on the morning of the match, set to begin on Thursday, 31 July 'We will take a decision [on Bumrah] tomorrow; the wicket looks very green. So we will see how it turns out,' said Gill in the press conference on the eve of the match. Before the series began, it was expected that Bumrah would feature in only three of the five matches to manage his workload. Now, having already played in three games, it remains to be seen whether he will take the field for a fourth time with the series on the line. Gill's counterpart, Ben Stokes, has been ruled out of the fifth Test, with Ollie Pope set to lead England in his absence. Gill believes Stokes' absence will be a significant loss for the home side. "A big miss for definitely England," Gill added. "I think the way, whenever he comes on to bowl or bat, he always makes things interesting, he always makes something happen. "So from their perspective, I think it is definitely a loss for them.' England have already named their XI, opting for a pace-heavy attack featuring Chris Woakes, Josh Tongue, Gus Atkinson and Jamie Overton, with spin duties likely to be shared between Jacob Bethell and Joe Root. Gill, however, has chosen to keep his cards close to his chest regarding India's playing XI for tomorrow. 'Arshdeep Singh has been asked to get ready but we will take a call on the Playing XI after looking at the pitch by this evening," Gill said. "England haven't gone with a frontline spinner. We have Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar, who have done such a good job with the ball and the bat. On that front, it's a no-brainer for us.' All four Tests have gone down to the wire, with each match extending to Day 5. Despite the physical fatigue, Gill believes it has been a valuable learning experience for the young Indian side, and drawing the series would be a commendable achievement. '2-2 will be very significant for this team," Gill noted. "Every match we have played, it was difficult to decide the winner after the first four days. "The series has been a great learning curve. Some things you can learn from experience, hopefully finish on a high." While the series scoreline will be on both teams' minds, England and India will also be eyeing important World Test Championship points as they look to build early momentum in the 2025–27 cycle, where they currently sit third and fourth on the table, respectively.
