Legendary England cricketer Joe Root completed 3000 runs against India in Test cricket. He became the first ever cricketer to achieve the feat. Ricky Ponting (2555) held the record for several years before Root surpassed him earlier in his career and eventually reached the 3000-run milestone in the third Test against India at the iconic Lord’s. Root required only 45 runs to reach the milestone, and he did that rather comfortably.
After winning the toss, England captain Ben Stokes elected to bat first. The hosts had a shaky start but the pair of Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley kept the scoreboard ticking. However, in the 14th over of the match, Nitish Kumar Reddy sent both the openers packing. Duckett departed after scoring 23, while Crawley made 18.
Both dismissals can be considered soft ones as the openers failed to time it. Duckett attempted to pull the ball, but since there wasn’t enough pace on it, he edged it to Rishabh Pant. Three balls later, Crawley failed to play Nitish’s delivery that was nipping in and had some bounce. With that, England were reduced to 44/2.
Root, Pope stabilises things for England
After two back-to-back dismissals, England were put under some pressure, but Root and Ollie Pope managed to stabilise England’s innings. The surface had little to offer for the bowlers, and the England batters were put to the test by the Indian team. The Stokes-led side is known for playing an aggressive brand of cricket in the longest format, but the visitors didn’t give them any space in the middle.
At one point, England played 28 consecutive dot balls, and that tells that the hosts had a rough time, despite the ball turning old. India will be hoping to capitalise on the start and end England’s innings early to give themselves a massive advantage.