ROOT RUNS THEM RAGGED
Dream display from captain launches his big year with a bang
Joe Root knows his legacy as both batsman and captain will be defined by a year in which he must take on India home and away, and have his third and almost certainly last crack in charge of england at winning the Ashes.
Well, his quest for true cricketing greatness could not have got off to a better start in Galle when, faced with the admittedly lesser challenge of Sri Lanka, he led england to a position of total first test superiority.
this was the Root, with his 18th test century, that earned comparison with Steve Smith, Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson before the demands of leadership saw him return to the ranks of the simply very good.
And this is the Root who has the potential to go on to become the best english batsman of them all if, just past his 30th birthday, he can continue converting half- centuries into really big hundreds that win test matches.
By the close of a second day reduced to two sessions by rain, Root had provided a masterclass on how to play spin at one of the most demanding slow bowling venues in the world and made a nonsense of his struggles to reach three figures throughout 2020.
By his side in a partnership of 173 that surely put this first of 17 tests for england this year out of Sri Lanka’s reach, was a newcomer proving that all the hype was more than mere hyperbole.
Chris Silverwood has been convinced that Dan Lawrence was destined for the very top, ever since he first worked with him as a teenager in the essex second team, and now here he was handing him his first test cap in a re-modelled england middle order.
How Lawrence looked at home from the moment he cut his first ball for a single, admittedly being helped to settle by a Sri Lankan attack that was a poor imitation of the great spinning sides led by the likes of Muttiah Muralitharan and Rangana Herath.
Lawrence will not worry about that. there has been much talk of his ‘unique’ technique and his tendency to be a ‘leg- side Larry’ but there was nothing unorthodox about his accomplished strokeplay as he matched Root and skilfully rotated the strike.
the 23- year- old also gave a tantalising glimpse of the audacity that has been a feature of his meteoric rise at Chelmsford when he went down on one knee and slog- swept Lasith embuldeniya for six, holding the pose for good measure.
only when Lawrence tired in the sapping conditions did he falter, being dropped at slip on 60 by the hapless Kusal Mendis when trying to turn Wanindu Hasaranga to leg, then edging a slog off embuldeniya beyond the fingertips of keeper Niroshan Dickwella on 68.
Lawrence was unable to take advantage and emulate his essex team-mate and mentor Sir Alastair Cook by making a hundred on debut. He succumbed to a bit of extra bounce with the new ball from Dilruwan Perera and offered a catch to short-leg on 73.
It was the same score as that made by Root on his debut in Nagpur more than eight years ago, and if Lawrence goes on to enjoy half as much success as his captain then england have indeed unearthed a rare talent. For now he has given the selectors a tricky dilemma when they welcome back Rory Burns, Ben Stokes and ollie Pope in India next month.
Lawrence, who received throwdowns from Jacques Kallis — South African legend- turned england batting consultant — before play, was soon into the action as Jonny Bairstow edged embuldeniya low to gully before he could add to his overnight 47.
But Sri Lanka’s real chance to get back into the test and the series came in the very first over of the day — Root was mightily close to falling lbw when he missed an attempted sweep off Perera. Umpire Kumar Dharmasena’s not out call was just about upheld by technology on impact.
that was the closest Sri Lanka came to dismissing Root, who had been reprieved by technology on 20 on day one, as he showed just what a sublime player of spin he is, displaying an array of sweeps and dabs to move effortlessly through the gears.
He also reduced the ever expressive figure of Sri Lanka coach Mickey Arthur to apoplexy when he gloved embuldeniya to Mendis at short leg on 102 only to be given not out on review when tV umpire Lyndon Hannibal pointed out the ball had actually hit the ground first. Arthur really should brush up on cricket’s laws.
this was Root’s eighth score of 150-plus and by the time the unseasonal deluge stopped any play after tea he had reached an unbeaten 168, overtaking Kevin Pietersen’s epic 151 at Colombo in 2012 as the highest score by an englishman in Sri Lanka.
More importantly, at 320 for four england were 185 ahead and perfectly placed to push on for a crushing victory that really would get their busiest ever year off to a flying start.
And their captain is displaying the hunger and greed for a really big score that, in the past couple of years, has been the only thing missing from his armoury.