Joe Root equals Alastair Cook’s record, carries England to a strong position on Day 1

Joe Root scored an amazing ton against Sri Lanka at Lord’s during the first day of the second Test. With the century, he equaled Alastair Cook’s record for the most centuries scored by an England batter in Test cricket with 33. The fabulous knock massively helped The Three Lions and they finished the first day on 358/7.

Root was dismissed by Sri Lanka’s Milan Rathnayake on 143. No other top-order England batter was even able to reach the score of 50 and it was young pacer Gus Atkinson who showed immense maturity and played some fantastic shots to hep the hosts finish the day on a high.

Atkinson scored his first half-century in international cricket and remained unbeaten on 74 along with Matthew Potts who remained unbeaten on 20. Atkinson also provided excellent support to Root with a 92-run stand in 19 overs.

The tail-enders will be looking to at least take the hosts over the 400-run mark on the second day of the Test match.