Brilliant Joe Root keeps England’s hopes alive in second Sri Lanka Test

Joe Root reeled off another majestic century as he carried England’s faltering hopes in the second Test against Sri Lanka in Galle.

Root piled on 228 in last week’s series opener at the same ground and continued to dominate the home attack as he reached three figures in consecutive matches for the first time in his career.

At tea on day three, Root was merry on 137 not out but his near flawless innings could not disguise the fact that Sri Lanka still had a strong platform to work from after two more dismissals in the afternoon session. At 252-6, England remained 129 short of parity with four wickets left.

Joe Root scored another century as he carried England’s faltering hopes in the second Test against Sri Lanka

At tea on day three Root was on 137 not out but the hosts were still in control of the match

Sri Lanka still had a strong platform to work from with England still trailing by 129 at tea

Lasith Embuldeniya, who removed both openers cheaply on Saturday evening, was the primary threat and made another double strike in his first spell as Jonny Bairstow and Dan Lawrence were undone by his left-arm spin.

Responding to Sri Lanka’s 381, Root and Bairstow took their steady third-wicket stand from 93 to 111 – Bairstow had chipped in just 28 of those and, with wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella reminding him at regular intervals that he had been ‘dropped’ rather than rested for the forthcoming India series, he nicked an inside edge on to his front pad and was caught at slip.

Root had resumed on 67 and immediately began accumulating again, rocking on his heels to pull Embuldeniya for four and getting stuck into his trusted arsenal of sweeps.

He was getting better with each passing moment, not least when he took the chance to show off a remarkable switch hit – flipping his stance in the style of Kevin Pietersen and striking for four in the manner of a left-hander.

Bairstow chipped in 28 before he nicked an inside edge on to his front pad and was caught

He was making things look easier than they were though, with new man Dan Lawrence surviving a stumping chance before becoming Embuldeniya’s fourth victim. Like Zak Crawley before him, Lawrence was drawn in by the drift and beaten by the spin, nicking to slip for three.

Root brought up a brilliant century off 139 balls – 24 quicker than his first hundred last time out – joining another Yorkshire great, Sir Len Hutton, on 19 Test tons.

Jos Buttler made a bright 30 not out as England continued chipping away at their hosts, hitting one sweet drive and a couple of neat reverse sweeps. He was given out to Dilruwan Perera on 26 but a DRS review showed an inside edge into the ground which scotched hopes of an lbw or a catch. 

Dan Lawrence became Lasith Embuldeniya’s fourth victim, nicking to slip for just three runs

Buttler continued to back up Root, showing solid temperament in defence and using his reverse sweep as a release shot against spin.

He moved to 50 off 80 deliveries when Embuldeniya offered rare width outside off stump and allowed the England keeper to cut away for four.

He and Root were knocking significant chunks off the deficit but at 216 for four they were still 165 shy.

After a stand of 97, Sri Lanka finally got the better of Buttler. It was the reverse sweep that did for him, a profitable source of runs for the number seven but ultimately a fatal one.

Jos Buttler made a bright 55 as England continued chipping away at their hosts’ lead

Debutant Ramesh Mendis found the under edge of the bat and this time the ball thudded into the boot rather than the floor, popping up to Oshada Fernando. Buttler was out for 55, with Sam Curran arriving as Root’s latest foil.

Curran came perilously close to being lbw for seven and managed to cash in with one big six before Embuldeniya struck with the last ball before tea.

It was a predictable end, the left-hander pushing to slip in an unsuccessful attempt to smother the spin – Embuldeniya had five for 99, with England 129 behind on 252 for six and relying ever more on Root.