England Skipper Joe Root Overtakes Kevin Pietersen to Top This Elite List
England captain Joe Root notched up another special milestone as he scored a second century in as many innings to keep England afloat on day three of the second and final Test against Sri Lanka in Galle.
England captain Joe Root notched up another special milestone as he scored a second century in as many innings to keep England afloat on day three of the second and final Test against Sri Lanka in Galle. Root overtook former England skipper Kevin Pietersen to become the top run-getter for England on Sunday. Pietersen had scored a respectable 8,181 Test runs in his career. Root followed up his 228 in the first match with the 19th Test century, the first time he has reached three figures in consecutive tests in his career.
Having walked in to bat with England at seven runs for two wickets, Root had raced to 67 on day two as England reached 98 for two at stumps on Saturday. But on day three, Root was more cautious with the wicket offering plenty of turn and bounce for the Sri Lankan bowlers.
Joe Root has now gone past Kevin Pietersen to become England’s fifth-highest run-getter in Tests 🙌
Root tallied a double hundred in the first test that England won by seven wickets. England batsmen have struggled against Sri Lankas spin but Root has remained untroubled.
Roots plans against spin appeared simple: for full deliveries, defend on the back foot and play the sweep for ones that were short.
Sri Lanka placed three fielders in the boundary to cut off the sweep shot, but Root kept finding gaps.
In the last over before tea, Lasith Embuldeniya, who was given the new ball from the City End had Curran caught at slip to complete a five-wicket haul, his third in tests.