PALLEKELE: Captain Joe Root smashed 124 and newcomer Ben Foakes again hit valuable tail end runs to put England in command of the second Test against Sri Lanka here at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on Friday.

England reached 324 for nine — a second innings lead of 278 — when bad light stopped play for the third day of the Test. Foakes was batting on 51 alongside James Anderson on four.

Spinner Akila Danajanya, whose action is under investigation by the International Cricket Council, claimed six wickets on the turning pitch. He trapped Root lbw and then bowled Sam Curran for nought with his next ball. Adil Rashid thwarted the hat-trick but soon fell to Dananjaya’s guile for two.

It was his third five wicket haul in just his fifth Test for Dananjaya, who must rush off to Australia after the game for an ICC examination of his bowling.

He however could not stop Root and Foakes swinging the game.

Root reached his 15th Test century soon after tea, making the sweep and reverse sweep valuable weapons, as he hit 10 fours and two sixes in his 146-ball knock.

Root said he enjoyed making the runs despite the pressure. “That’s what it should be. You shouldn’t feel pressure like the pressure is too much for you, you should enjoy the occasion and make the most of the opportunity in front of you,” he said after the day’s play.

“The whole group managed to harness that today and make the most of it.”

Root raised his bat to a standing ovation from travelling English fans who also lauded Foakes.

Root made an 82-run seventh wicket stand with Foakes, who reached his fifty with a six off Dilruwan Perera. The hit turned out to be the last ball of the day with dark clouds gathering and thunder heard in the distance.

As he did in his sparkling century on his Test debut in the opening game of the series, Foakes mixed caution and aggression to push up the England score.

Every one of England’s top seven batsmen were out attempting a sweep of some description.

Jos Buttler dragged one of Dananjaya’s deliveries onto his stumps while trying to reverse sweep on 34. Moeen Ali was trapped lbw for 10 after failing to connect with an attempted sweep.

“From my point of view, it was almost a safer shot than playing the forward defensive,” said Root.

“With the amount the ball was turning there’s a lot of risk involved in that. At times attack is the best form of defence on a wicket like that.”

Earlier, left-hander Rory Burns registered his maiden Test half-century in just his second match. He was trapped lbw off Malinda Pushpakumara for 59.

Perera wasted little time in sending nightwatchman Jack Leach back to the pavilion for one in the second over of the day.

Burns then put together 73 runs for the second wicket with Keaton Jennings, who made 26, to steady the innings and help England overcome their 46-run deficit.

Scoreboard

ENGLAND (1st Innings) 290 (J. Buttler 63, S. Curran 64; D. Perera 4-61) SRI LANKA (1st Innings) 336 (R. Silva 85, D. Karunaratne 63; J. Leach 3-70, A. Rashid 3-75) ENGLAND (2nd Innings, overnight 0-0): J. Leach lbw b Perera 1 R. Burns lbw b Pushpakumara 59 K. Jennings c de Silva b Dananjaya 26 J. Root lbw b Dananjaya 124 B. Stokes lbw b Perera 0 J. Buttler b Dananjaya 34 M. Ali lbw b Dananjaya 10 B. Foakes not out 51 S. Curran b Dananjaya 0 A. Rashid lbw b Dananjaya 2 J. Anderson not out 4 EXTRAS (B-4, LB-9) 13 TOTAL (for nine wkts, 76 overs) 324 FALL OF WKTS: 1-4, 2-77, 3-108, 4-109, 5-183, 6-219, 7-301, 8-301, 9-305 BOWLING (to-date): Perera 19-2-87-2; Pushpakumara 26-1-97-1; Dananjaya 23-0-106-6; De Silva 4-0-7-0; Lakmal 4-0-14-0

Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2018