Anderson and Root star as England take control of third test

Joe Root and Jimmy Anderson excelled with bat and ball respectively as England took control of the third test after two days of play at Headingley.

Despite making his Test debut 18 years ago, Anderson shone at the age of 39 to play a major part in skittling India for only 78.

He claimed the vital scalps of KL Rahul (0), Cheteshwar Pujara (1) and Virat Kohli (7) as the hosts looked to bounce back from a humiliating 151-run defeat at Lord’s.

Second Test centurion Rahul was first to go as he edged an attempted booming drive through to Jos Buttler just four deliveries into the match.

Pujara then fell shortly after and left his side in trouble at 4-2 with the combination of Anderson and Buttler striking once more.

Kohli’s miserable form showed no sign of stopping as the Indian skipper played an uncharacteristic drive away from his body and edged into the gloves of, you guessed it, Buttler again.

Ollie Robinson soon got in on the action too as he ended Rohit Sharma (19) and Ajinkya Rahane’s brief resistance by dismissing the latter for 18 with a perfect line and length to draw an edge.

56-4 swiftly changed to 58-5 after lunch with Rishabh Pant (2) hitting a Robinson delivery outside off-stump and feathering through to Buttler for his fifth catch of the innings.

While the tourists’ extended tail proved to be no problem at the Home of Cricket, Craig Overton and Sam Curran combined to take four wickets in as many balls to inflict more pain on Kohli.

The former tempted Sharma to lose his wicket with an uncontrolled shot off the back foot for the third time in the series as Robinson took a simple catch at mid-off.

On his first Test appearance in almost two years, Overton found himself on a hat-trick as Mohammed Shami edged to third slip for a golden duck.

Curran then responded to his critics and dismissed Ravi Jadeja (4) and then Jasprit Bumrah (0) in consecutive balls.

Overton completed a remarkable performance from the England attack by claiming the wicket of Mohammed Siraj (3) as India were all out for just 78.

That total is even more impressive when you take into account that Joe Root was without the likes of Stuart Broad, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes and Jofra Archer.

Even with their recent batting woes, England were surely guaranteed a lead of some sort. Even the most optimistic of supporters would have been forgiven for not foreseeing such an imposing start with the bat.

Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed put on 120 before the close of play with both openers posting half centuries following the dropping of Dom Sibley and the reintroduction of Dawid Malan to Test cricket.

Burns has proven that he can make runs on the international stage previously, although, doing that on a consistent basis remains his biggest challenge. The Surrey skipper played in an assured manner and even smacked Siraj over deep-square-leg for six.

Meanwhile, Hameed’s runs will come as a much-needed confidence boost after scores of zero and nine last time out on his first international appearance in five years.

After beginning day two on 120-0, it took a brilliant delivery from Shami, who angled the ball towards off-stump to beat the defences of Burns on 61.

Hameed was also beaten by an impressive delivery as Jadeja ripped one past his outside edge and onto off-stump for 68.

Unfortunately for India though, a second mammoth partnership would follow as Malan and Root united to post 139 for the third wicket.

Root, as he has done on so many occasions this summer, raced to 50 from only 57 deliveries while Malan looked composed at the crease.

The world’s number-one-ranked T20I batsman marked his return to the longest format with a half-century of his own which came off 99 balls.

He would have had set his sights on a second Test century after making his way to 70 with relative ease, therefore his relatively soft dismissal was even more disappointing.

Initially, it appeared that Malan had failed to connect with Siraj’s full delivery down the leg-side, however, the bowler convinced his captain into a hopeful review that paid off when UltraEdge showed a spike and he was gone just before tea-time.

Root continued to dominate the Indian attack and moved to his sixth ton of the calendar year with a classy clip through mid-wicket to maintain his remarkable form.

Jonny Bairstow (29) and Buttler (7) were dismissed in quick succession before Root was eventually bowled by Bumrah for 121.

However, it was another knock that oozed quality from the England skipper, one that you’d perhaps see in the 50-over arena. It was also an insight into how strong this English side can be if runs are on the board before Root arrives at the crease.

Moeen Ali (8) and Sam Curran (15) were dismissed in their search for quick runs as Robinson and Overton survived to go into day three with a lead of 345 and a score of 423-8 which represented a wonderful display for England and one heck of a response from the second Test.

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