Joe Root hits England-record 34th test century as hosts close in on series victory over Sri Lanka
London, Aug 31: 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.
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.
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.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 moment.
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 31, 2024
Joe Root goes above Sir Alastair Cook to score the most Test hundreds for England 🐐 pic.twitter.com/cD5aCXl1Id
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Chamoli hydropower tunnel train collision: 88 injured, magisterial probe ordered
Gopeshwar/Dehradun (PTI): Chamoli District Magistrate Gaurav Kumar on Wednesday ordered a magisterial inquiry into the collision between two loco trains inside the Pipalkoti tunnel of the under-construction Vishnugad-Pipalkoti hydropower project, which left 88 people injured.
Earlier in the day, Kumar said that the accident occurred around 8.30 pm on Tuesday at the TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) site inside the tunnel being built by THDC (India).
A loco train carrying workers for tunnel excavation during the night shift was about two kilometres inside the tunnel when another loco train coming from the opposite direction lost control and collided with it.
One of the trains had workers and officials on board, while the other carried material.
Upon receiving information about the collision, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami ordered proper treatment for the injured. He spoke to the DM over the phone and instructed him to ensure that all the injured receive the best possible medical facilities.
DM Kumar and Superintendent of Police Surjit Singh Panwar met the injured at the Gopeshwar District Hospital.
Kumar said 109 people were on board the loco train at the time of the accident, most of them labourers. None of the injured was serious, he said.
He said that 88 of them were injured, although none of them are in serious condition. They said that 84 workers were discharged after receiving first aid, while four are still hospitalized.
DM Kumar and SP Panwar also inspected the project site and sought detailed information about the incident from the project officials.
They instructed them to strictly implement all necessary safety standards to prevent a recurrence of such an incident in the future.
After inspection, the DM issued orders for a magisterial inquiry into the accident caused by the collision of the loco trains.
Meanwhile, the Railways said the trains involved in the collision had no connection with it.
"It is clarified that this unfortunate incident occurred in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, involving a trolley used in the local transportation system during the construction of a hydroelectric project tunnel. The train referred to in the news reports is not an Indian Railways train, but a transportation system being used locally by the project team," the government entity said in a statement.
According to officials, rail-like vehicles are used to transport workers, employees, and materials for construction work inside the tunnel.
The project, being built between Helang and Pipalkoti on the Alaknanda River, will generate 444 megawatts of electricity through four turbines. The project is targeted for completion by next year.
