Day 1 of the third Test at Lord’s between England and India was one that witnessed an unusually conservative mindset by the hosts, but there was one man who stood head and shoulders above the rest with sheer class – Joe Root. The ex-England captain, on the brink of shattering several batting records, played a tranquil and resolute knock, finishing the day agonizingly short of a well-merited century.
Root’s unbeaten 99 served as a reminder of his consistency and grace. It was his 67th fifty in Test cricket, to go along with his 36 hundreds, and came off 102 balls, adorned with seven sharp boundaries. While wickets tumbled at the other end most notably the world No. 1 batter Harry Brook’s prized scalp just before Tea Root remained steadfast. In partnership with captain Ben Stokes, he established a strong stand, tormenting the Indian bowlers amidst the golden evening sun of London.
It looked pretty clear that Joe Root will be able to score a century on Day 1 but drama in the last over of the day stranded him on 99. Root pushed a length ball to backward point off Akash Deep and urged a second run after taking one. The Lord’s crowd cheered expecting the milestone only to have it shut down by Stokes with a stern “No!” from the non-striker’s end. Root had to retreat halfway down the pitch.
Adding to the tension of the moment, Ravindra Jadeja, who had accepted the ball cleanly, didn’t lob it back to the wicketkeeper. He instead dropped it on the pitch playfully and tauntingly challenged Root to take the run. Root merely smiled, declining to take the bait, but the audience wasn’t amused boos rang out in the hallowed ground. To add to that, the stump mic also caught an Indian player cheekily remarking in Hindi, “Aaj raat ko banne mat de” (“Don’t let him get the hundred tonight”).
Rule #1: Never risk it with @imjadeja 😶
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) July 10, 2025
Rule #2: If you forget Rule #1 👀#ENGvIND 👉 3rd TEST Day 2 FRI, JULY 11, 2:30 PM streaming on JioHotstar! pic.twitter.com/6chobVFsBL
Root’s 99* leaves him poised to overtake Steve Smith as the top current Test centurion. A century here would also leave him fifth in all-time scores, just one behind Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara. Root has 13,214 Test runs to his name and is now just 77 short of moving past Jacques Kallis (13,289) and Rahul Dravid (13,288) to the third-highest run-getter in Tests.
Day 2 promises high drama, with Root looking to convert the heartbreak into history.
