Mumbai, September 1: Joe Root chalked up a record 34th test century for England as the hosts raced closer to a series victory over Sri Lanka in the second test at Lord's on Saturday. Root equaled Alastair Cook's England record on Thursday and surpassed it after registering a century in both innings. His latest ton, his seventh at Lord's, was his fastest ever off 111 deliveries before he holed out for 103, the backbone of England's 251 which left Sri Lanka needing a world-record 483 to win. Sri Lanka was left with seven sessions to either chase down the mammoth total or bat for a draw to tee up a decider at the Oval next week. It closed on 53-2 as bad light ended play early. Most Test Centuries for England: Joe Root Surpasses Alastair Cook, Scores His 34th Test Hundred During ENG vs SL 2nd Test 2024.

Only five other players in history have more hundreds than Root, whose father was in the crowd to watch him move alongside Sunil Gavaskar, Brian Lara, Younis Khan and Mahela Jayawardene on the all-time list. Root is within 95 runs of Cook's England benchmark 12,472 in tests. It was another forgettable day for Ollie Pope, though.

While he reached double figures for the first time in four innings as the stand-in England captain, Pope was out for 17 to an ugly premeditated hack attempting to meet Sri Lanka's short-ball ploy head-on. Ben Duckett departed for 24, caught on the rebound by Angelo Mathews from Nishan Madushka's parry, and Pope walked into Asitha Fernando's bumper trap.

Attempting to offset Sri Lanka's heavy leg-side field, Pope stepped back and across but picked out the lone off-side boundary rider at deep backward point. Harry Brook was dropped on 9 and made 37 before holing out off Prabath Jayasuriya, who had Jamie Smith lbw for 26 after he missed a sweep.

Root moved unobtrusively to his sixth fifty-plus score in eight innings this summer, celebrating with a trademark late cut for four off Milan Rathnayake, while showing little discomfort against Jayasuriya. Chris Woakes chipped to extra cover while Gus Atkinson, full of confidence after his maiden first-class century a day earlier, sliced an unconventional reverse pull to Rathnayake on the third boundary.

While England's lead climbed past 450, there was no danger of a declaration as Root went past Graham Gooch's Lord's record of 2,015 test runs after getting to within four of his landmark hundred. After keeping the crowd waiting with 16 deliveries in the 90s amid a short-ball barrage from Fernando, Root carved through vacant cover point for four to reach the milestone. Former England Football Team Manager Gareth Southgate Attends ENG vs SL 2nd Test 2024 at Lord's Cricket Ground (See Pic).

He was last man out when he shoveled to deep square leg but then recorded his 199th and 200th test catches after an early tea when Nishan Madushka and Pathum Nissanka edged to first slip off Atkinson and Olly Stone, respectively. With light fading, the teams left the field shortly after 5 p.m. local time and play was called off an hour later. Dimuth Karunaratne ended the day on 23 not out with nightwatcher Jayasuriya on 3.

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