ENG vs IND: 2nd Test, Day 3 – Root and Siraj dominate headlines  

The second Test between England and India is nicely poised with Joe Root once again leading the way for the home team. He smashed an unbeaten 180 to take England to 391 and were bowled out off the last ball of the day. England have a lead of 27 runs now and the onus is on India now to score runs and set a target for their opponents.

Here are the talking points of the day –

Joe Root’s masterful century

533 minutes. Yes, Joe Root batted for a massive 533 minutes and still had the tenacity to play a reverse scoop in the last 10 minutes of play. He was in an amazing zone on the day and pleased the crowd, even the Indian fans, with his brilliant batting. It was a chanceless knock as he remained unbeaten on 180 off 321 balls with 18 fours to his name. His knock has once again brought the game to balance.

Siraj’s wonderful bowling 

Mohammed Siraj bowled his heart out throughout the day. There was not much swing or help from the surface but the man kept running in to deliver for his team. He eventually ended up with four wickets of Sibley, Hameed, Bairstow and Robinson in the innings. Siraj returned with the figures of 4/94 in 30 overs, the most bowled by an Indian bowler in the innings as well.

India’s no-ball woes

Rather it should be Jasprit Bumrah’s no-ball woes. The man bowled nine-ball and 10-ball overs and clearly struggled. Bumrah bowled as many as 13 no-balls in the day and despite being threatening, he went wicketless. He certainly needs to work on his run-up while only Mohammed Siraj didn’t bowl a no-ball with India conceding a total of 33 extras.