Joe Root’s double hundred puts England on top against Sri Lanka

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/jun/13/joe-root-double-hundred-england-sri-lanka

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If the first day had been played at a pace that, by England standards of late anyway, might be considered heady, the second part of the innings was a breathless sprint to the declaration line. By the time Alastair Cook pulled the plug, a further 231 runs had been added at getting on for a run a ball, Joe Root had reached a double hundred, and the lower order had gorged themselves on a flagging attack that nevertheless remained unbowed by the experience.

At the mid-afternoon point, Angelo Mathews’ bowlers were on their knees, so it was to Sri Lanka’s credit that they too put bat firmly to ball, fairly rattling along, although Chris Jordan did stall things by taking his maiden Test wicket with his third delivery. But at the close Sri Lanka had reached 140 for one, still 236 runs short of avoiding even the prospect of a follow-on, although given the nature of back-to-back Tests nowadays it would an option increasingly unlikely to be taken, despite the Kiwis bucking the trend and winning handsomely in Jamaica earlier in the week.

In reaching 575 for nine, England had attained an altitude not experienced in almost three years, since they made 591 for six against India at The Oval. But given the sound position they had managed to establish on the opening day, the crux of the second was always going to be in the second half when England themselves had the chance to bowl.

The pitch had already lost its deceptive green tint by the end of the first session of the match, and had lost much of any zip that it may have had in it early on. There are some cracks which, should they widen, could create awkward variable bounce later in the match, and there could also be some encouragement for Moeen Ali, although that generally is optimistic, and the few tidy overs he managed, while showing good drift, an indication of revolutions being put on the ball, gave no early sign of spin.

It could be as hard work for England as it was for Sri Lanka and it is necessary to look no further than Middlesex’s successful fourth- innings chase of 472 to beat Yorkshire on this ground last month to appreciate the habitual nature of the surface.

Until Jordan’s intervention, the Sri Lanka openers had taken the battle back to the England bowlers. The left-hander Dimuth Karunaratne was desperately close to being lbw to Jimmy Anderson in his opening over, getting tangled up as the ball swung sharply in, and Paul Reiffel did indeed give him out. The batsman appealed the decision and after considerable deliberation over whether he had first made contact with his bat (he had not), Hawk-Eye showed the ball would have just cleared the treetops as it were.

Then, in Stuart Broad’s second over, the same batsman edged fast and between Jordan at second slip and Gary Ballance at third, the catch, probably Ballance’s, eluding both of them. Thereafter the batsman dominated the opening stand of 54 until Jordan induced a loose drive and Matt Prior took the low catch from the resultant edge.

It was to be England’s only success, as Silva, who made an unbeaten 152 against Northamptonshire last weekend, and Kumar Sangakkara, just quietly unfussily establishing his credentials for the long haul, batted out the day, Silva finishing unbeaten on 62 and Sangakkara 32 not out.

The final hour was not without its controversy, however. When he had 39,Silva, facing Broad, who had just switched for his first over from the Pavilion end, edged thick and low so that Prior had to stoop forward and to his right. The keeper was in no doubt that the ball, although always low in trajectory, had carried cleanly to him. The batsman was far from sure, however, and stood his ground.

The resultant replays, as so often happens in two dimensions, proved inconclusive (the third umpire does get additional enhanced images not seen elsewhere) and Silva survived.

Root’s innings was a personal triumph for him, even if it had come against bowling that lacked nothing for effort but in international terms was modest at best. It was still a tricky time for England when he came to the crease, and with the help of Prior, in their partnership of 171, he had seen them over it.

Prior had seemed set on a hundred only to succumb tamely to short leg for 86 during an entertaining period of Bodyline-lite from Sri Lanka which also brought the further wicket of Jordan. But Broad came in and swung the bat massively, making 47 from 38 balls, and Liam Plunkett, similarly robust, made 39 from 42, the eighth and ninth-wicket partnerships yielding 64 and 81 runs respectively.

By now, though, Root had got the sniff of a double century, and when he paddled Rangana Herath round the corner for a pair of runs that took him there, he greeted it in more understated fashion than he had the first hundred of his runs.

It did carry significance though, for it was the ability to turn single hundreds into doubles that characterised England’s best years of recent times. This, though, was the first in the ranks since Ian Bell made 235 in that match against India. It also means that Root is the fourth youngest, behind Sir Leonard Hutton, Bill Edrich and David Gower, to make a double century for England.

In all he batted for a shadejust over eight hours and hit only 16 fours, an indication if nothing else of the quality of the running between the wickets.