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Joe Root’s landmark 33rd Test century rescued England after Sri Lanka’s bold decision to bowl under a clear blue sky at Lord’s threatened to pay off.
After a nervy 12 balls on 99, Root belatedly equalled Sir Alastair Cook’s England record for the most Test hundreds, with the Yorkshireman’s superb 143 the bedrock of a day one total of 358 for seven.
Gus Atkinson blazed four sixes in a Test-best 74 not out from 81 balls after England had lurched to 216 for six but the day belonged to Root, who scored heavily backward of square on both sides of the wicket.
His only blemish was being dismissed to his patented reverse ramp although he was far from alone in gifting away his wicket, with Ollie Pope registering his third successive single-figure score since stepping in for Ben Stokes as England captain.
Pope admitted he had struggled to separate his batting and leadership duties last week, making two scores of six in an otherwise successful debut as skipper as England won the first of three Tests.
He was presented with a clean slate after opposite number Dhananjaya de Silva peculiarly ignored the overheads as he asked England to bat but on a blameless pitch, Pope made a torturous one off 10 balls before being cramped for room and top-edging a pull to square-leg.
Dhananjaya’s decision at the toss raised plenty of eyebrows and, with scant early movement on offer, he turned to the pacier Lahiru Kumara after Ben Duckett crashed three fours from Asitha Fernando’s second over.
Kumara, left out in Manchester, immediately caused problems as makeshift opener Dan Lawrence advanced uncertainly and prodded to a wider delivery, which moved just enough up the slope to take the edge to Sri Lanka’s third wicketkeeper of the series Nishan Madushka.
Pope was beaten first-ball by Kumara then cut in half by one angling back in before his luck ran out as he injudiciously tried to whip Fernando into the leg-side only to send a skier to Dhananjaya.
Root clipped his first ball for four but had a minor scare on 12 after Kumara’s impassioned appeal for lbw fell on deaf ears, with Sri Lanka unsuccessful in reviewing as the ball would have only trimmed leg stump.
England, though, were in a generous mood and Duckett departed cheaply for 40 to a reverse sweep he usually plays so adroitly but on this occasion miscued to deep point to give left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya a wicket in his first over.
Harry Brook was free-scoring after lunch although he fell lbw to Fernando for 33 from a delivery that was almost a carbon copy of Root’s let-off. Both balls would have just grazed leg stump but, unlike Root, Brook was unfortunate the umpire’s finger went up and the review upheld the on-field decision.
Root, the world’s top-ranked Test batter, was a reassuring presence in the middle as he moved to his fifth fifty-plus score in seven innings this summer and two streaky edges for four off Milan Rathnayake were rare missteps.
Wickets continued to fall at regular intervals as, either side of tea, Jamie Smith threw his hands away from his body and edged Rathnayake to Madushka for 21 while Kumara persuaded Chris Woakes into hooking to Fernando, who held on at the second attempt.
Matters might have worsened for England as Root inside-edged close to his stumps on 99, with the next 11 deliveries also dots in an agonising wait for three figures as the crowd anticipation built.
Root released the pressure by deliberately guiding Kumara between slip and gully for his 13th four, celebrating this milestone ton by raising one arm in the air as he watched the ball cross the boundary.
As Sri Lanka’s bowlers started to tire in the afternoon sunshine, Root made hay alongside Atkinson, who flayed Jayasuriya for two straight sixes while part-timer Kamindu Mendis also went the distance in an expensive three-over spell yielding 27.
A 92-run stand led England into calmer waters but was ended by Root’s rush of blood as he attempted to lift Rathnayake over the slip cordon, succeeding in only offering a simple catch to Pathum Nissanka.
Sri Lanka, though, could not polish off the tail, with Atkinson bringing up a swashbuckling maiden Test fifty off 61 balls. Even the new ball brought no respite as Kumara went the distance as Atkinson and Matthew Potts (20 not out) put on an unbroken 50.
