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
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Allu Arjun didn't leave theatre despite being told about woman's death: Hyderabad police
Hyderabad, Dec 22: Top Telugu actor Allu Arjun did not leave the theatre during the screening of 'Pushpa-2' on December 4 despite being told to do so in view of a stampede in which a woman died, police officials claimed on on Sunday.
Speaking at a press conference on the annual round-up of 2024, city police commissioner C V Anand showed a video, made by police, on the situation that prevailed when the stampede occurred.
The video was made by collating footage, including from news channels and cell phone clips. It suggests the actor remained in the theatre till the midnight.
Anand did not make any comment on the video, but said the media can draw its own conclusions.
A police official talked about the sequence of events on the fateful night of December 4.
He said that he and other police officials informed a manager of Allu Arjun about the death of the woman and told him that the situation was out of control. He indicated that they were not allowed to meet the actor.
Allu Arjun's staff members told them that they would convey the matter to the actor but did not do so, he said.
The official said he later managed to reach the actor, told him about the woman's death and asked him to leave the theatre so that the fans don't harm each other while trying to catch a glimpse of him.
The official also told the actor that security arrangements would be made for his exit.
However, the actor said he would go only after watching the film, the police official said.
Later, accompanied by a senior officer, the official went inside and brought the actor out, he said.
Amid allegations that bouncers hired by Allu Arjun pushed crowds as well as policemen when the stampede occurred at the cinema hall, the police commissioner warned that stringent action as per law would be taken if THE bouncers indeed misbehaved with the police on duty.
The VIPs would be made responsible for the behaviour of the bouncers hired by them, he said.
Asked if the police would appeal against the interim bail granted to Allu Arjun, the commissioner refused to give a direct response, just saying it is part of the investigation.
What course of action is taken would be known in the days to come, he said.
He also declined to comment when asked if the family of the deceased told him about Allu Arjun's team or film production team allegedly threatening them not to speak on the issue.
Meanwhile, state Cinematography Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy found fault with Allu Arjun responding on Saturday to the debate in the Legislative Assembly.
The minister, who observed that the actor should have respect for the government and the chief minister, demanded an apology from Allu Arjun to the government and the CM.
"This government is never vindictive. As Cinematography Minister, we allowed benefit shows and hiking ticket prices to promote the film industry," he said.
However, Union Minister of State for Home Bandi Sanjay Kumar found fault with CM Revanth Reddy for his comments on Allu Arjun in the Assembly on Saturday.
The comments of the CM sounded like character assassination of Allu Arjun and hurting the Telugu film industry, he alleged in a statement.
Later in the day, Sanjay Kumar visited a boy who is undergoing treatment in a hospital after being injured in the stampede.
"Consoled his father over the heartbreaking loss of his wife, Revathi. I pray to god that Sritej recovers at the earliest. Assured support to the family in this difficult time," Kumar said on X.
Earlier in the day, state DGP Jitender told reporters in Karimnagar district that film personalities and all others should understand that safety and security of citizens is utmost important, and also conduct themselves accordingly.
