England captain Joe Root scored a splendid hundred on the fourth day of the first Test against India to steer his team to a commanding position. He drove Shardul Thakur past mid-on to bring up his 21st century in the longest format of the game.
He walked out to bat after the fall of Zak Crawley and batted with supreme confidence and fluency to put England in the lead. He was severe against anything pitched fuller to him by Indian pacers and smashed 14 fours n his way to the century.
England had started the fourth day trailing behind India’s first total of 278 runs by 70 runs and they came under pressure after the departure of Rory Burns and Zak Crawley. However, Root stitched partnerships with Dom Sibley, Jonny Bairstow and Dan Lawrence to keep India at bay.
Root has 21 centuries and 50 fifties in a 106-match long Test career. He had made his Test debut against the same opponent in 2013 in Nagpur.
It was his 10th century as the captain of the England Test side in 97 Test innings.
England have exceeded their lead over India beyond the 160-run mark and India would need to bat really bat to get those runs to chase to go 1-0 up in the series.