India vs England 3rd Test, Day 2 - Joe Root's busy 121 drives England 345 ahead of India

Brief Scores: England 423 for 8 (Root 121, Hameed 68, Shami 3-87) lead India 78 (Anderson 3-6, Overton 3-14) by 345 runs

Joe Root scored his third century of the series in just three games. (Photo: ©Wisden/Twitter)

England have turned the tables in Leeds and how. They have made a lasting note in the visitors’ minds with their performance on Day two of the third Test that they are ready to bounce back in this series by winning this match and leveling the 5-match series 1-1.

Fantastic performances from the England's top order has given them an upper hand in the India-England third test at Headingly, Leeds on Day 2.

England score 62/2 in 26 overs before Lunch

Play on Day two resumed with England on 120 for no loss. Both the openers, Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed, put a stand of 135 runs before Burns got bowled to Mohammed Shami on 61 runs. England also lost their second opener in quick succession. Hameed was bowled off Ravindra Jadeja on 68 runs.

India’s bowlers bowled accurate line and length in the first session as compared to Day 1. India took two wickets and conceded just 62 runs. In the first session, India was miserly in terms of conceding runs. The first session was shared by both India and England.

Joe Root rises to the occasion yet again with 121

After losing two quick wickets, Dawid Malan and Joe Root built a 139-run partnership before Malan got out to Mohammed Siraj just before the tea break. Malan proved that he deserved to be in the playing XI earlier as well. He showed his adept technique in his innings of 70 runs off 128 balls which included good shots like drives, pulls and hooks as well.

This is the first time in the series for England that the top three players including Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed and Dawid Malan have scored 50-plus runs in a single innings.

Joe Root scored his 23rd international century and has scored 507 runs in the series so far against India. Before getting out, Joe Root scored a busy 121 runs off just 165 balls which included 14 boundaries. Root has scored three hundreds in three matches in this series. He has scored six centuries and joins the illustrious list of Denis Compton and Michael Vaughan in having scored six Test match centuries in a calendar year. Also, at the time of his dismissal, Joe Root had scored 30.9% of England's Test match runs off the bat in 2021

It is an exceptional performance by the England captain. He is in the form of his life and showed that he deserves to be on top of the Test rankings as well as in the list of Fab Four for a long period of time.

The second session of Day two single handedly belonged to England in which they scored about 120-odd runs and lost the solitary wicket of Dawid Malan just before the interval break for tea.

Read More: India vs England 3rd Test, Day 1 Highlights

India bounce back in the third session but England firmly ahead

India’s bowlers were unable to impress their fans in the first two sessions of the game but in the third session they tried to make a comeback by taking 5 wickets although they conceded 125 runs in the process. The pick of the bowlers for Team India was Mohammed Shami who took 3 wickets. The other three successful bowlers who supported Shami were Mohammed Siraj, Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah with 2 wickets each and 1 wicket respectively.

The third session of the second day was also shared by both the teams. On one side, England scored 125 runs and on the other end India took 5 wickets.

What lies in the prospects

After the end of second day’s play, England are 345 ahead, with two wickets in hand, and one may suspect that they will make India work as hard as possible to earn the last two wickets.

There are three full days left in this Test and India have conceded a huge deficit. The fans will hope that India’s batsmen perform well in the second innings. It looks like a big challenge and slightly difficult looking at the first innings performance but it is not impossible.

India needs to swim against the tide to redeem themselves. The fans would be praying in all honesty for rain which appears as the only saviour for India. However, the forecasts predict clear skies and England almost certainly appear to be taking the game away

Read More: India’s Middle Order Conundrum – Pujara, Kohli, Rahane average under 30 from 2020