On a dream pitch but in nightmare conditions Joe Root fought cramp, fatigue and the danger of dehydration across an entire day at the crease to take a joyful, painful stride into history. Of the three things the 33-year-old had to worry about – the heat, his body, and his opponents – the last of these were by some margin the least vexing on his way to overtaking Alastair Cook to become England’s all-time leading run-scorer, and helping his team make Pakistan’s once daunting first-innings total appear undercooked. By the close they stood on 492 for three, trailing by 64, Root was on 176 – with Harry Brook not far behind on 141 – and the question had gone from whether he would score a century to how many he might like.
Towards the end Root could barely limp, let alone run, and having been on the field for all but eight balls of a match played in often sweltering temperatures – he has spent eight hours and one minute at the crease already – his discomfort was hardly surprising. This was one of those steamy days when the sweetest thing about reaching triple figures might just have been the opportunity to take off his helmet for a while.
