Friday 16 November 2018 19:14, UK
Joe Root hits his 15th Test ton and Rory Burns scores his maiden fifty as England go sweep crazy. Here's all you need to know from day three of the second Test in Kandy...
SCORECARD | AS IT HAPPENED | HIGHLIGHTS
Joe Root scored a magnificent century as England built a healthy 278-run lead on day three of the second Test against Sri Lanka, writes Sam Drury.
After 15 Tests without a hundred going into the final Test of the summer at The Oval, Joe Root has now got two in three matches. His quality has never really been in doubt and his knock in Kandy showed precisely why.
After a jittery start, the England captain began to settle just before lunch and looked at his fluent best when play resumed for the afternoon session. He swept with conviction and kept the score moving throughout his innings, never allowing the Sri Lanka spinners to settle into a rhythm.
Root's moment came in the first over after the tea break, one of only four overs of seam bowling in the day, when a thick outside edge raced away to the third man boundary to take the Yorkshireman to his second Test hundred in Asia. England have never lost a Test when Root has scored a century and if they can maintain that record then the skipper will surely be celebrating a first away series win since he took the role...
Keaton Jennings was dismissed playing the reverse sweep for the first time in Test cricket, having played the shot 50 times.
To sweep or not to sweep? Given that England lost seven wickets to sweep shots, be it conventional or reverse, many would say, unequivocally, not. However, those same shots also brought plenty of crucial runs as the away side grew their lead - at one stage it was as many as 88 of the 226 scored.
It was a simple case of risk and reward and, while those wickets quite clearly show the risk, the reward is shown not only in the runs scored with sweep shots but, as Michael Atherton pointed out on commentary, the additional runs they were able to score by manoeuvring the field and creating new gaps by hammering away with those strokes square of the wicket.
Yes, Jack Leach, Keaton Jennings, Rory Burns, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali and Joe Root were dismissed on the sweep but is that a price worth paying for the combined damage they were able to do with such shots prior to their wickets?
JOE ROOT: "[My Test hundreds] are all different but that was a thoroughly enjoyable one and quite challenging on that surface. The most pleasing thing for me was that having asked the guys to play in an [aggressive] manner in these conditions, you want to set the example and lead from the front. For it to come off was really pleasing."
MICHAEL ATHERTON: "[Root] is such a good player that all of his Test hundreds are attractive to watch but given of late that he has not been converting that many, given it is in Asia where he has only scored one other hundred on a very flat pitch in Rajkot, and given the situation of the game - without his hundred England would be struggling - it will make him feel that was one of his best.
"England are in a great position - I think they would have snapped your hand off for that lead at the start of play. They ought to have enough and if their spinners can't defend 278 on there you would be disappointed, even though the pitch isn't a minefield."
DAVID LLOYD: "[Rory Burns] has a great temperament - nothing flusters him at all. He looks a real find and is going to be there for some time. You can tell he knows his game, where he can score. He looks a fine, well-organised player."
Watch day four of the second Test between Sri Lanka and England from 4am, Saturday on Sky Sports Cricket and Main Event.
