CRISIS? WHAT CRISIS? SCOREBOARD

Brilliant Root grabs a ton and drives England to take command of Test

LESS than half an hour had passed when Joe Root walked into the first crisis of his England captaincy. The first of many, no doubt.

Seven hours later, crisis averted, dominance asserted, thanks to a player clearly born to be a leader. This is no ordinary Joe. It was not that he managed to complete what will probably become a familiar salvage job that was most impressive, it was the way he attacked it.

Root is not the first new skipper to talk about the power of positive cricket but few can be more of an example-setter.

Arriving at 17-2 and then losing a couple of partners well before three figures were within sight, the burden of responsibility on the new captain was immense.

Yet it never weighed him down, never restricted the freedom that defines his batting.

His unbeaten 184 came off 227 balls and that is a highend strike rate in Test cricket. By close of play, he was swatting sweat-stained South Africa bowling to all parts and after being in serious trouble during the morning session, England ended the evening in command.

For Root, there were a couple of early scares, bordering on straightforward let-offs, and an almighty reprieve when he was stumped off a Keshav Maharaj no-ball when one shy of his 150 but there is an old saying about fortune and the brave.

Root, with the 12th hundred of his 54-Test career, was lucky but bold. Unlike the rest of the top order. Alastair Cook airily feathered one behind off Vernon Philander, Keaton Jennings should have reviewed his lbw at the hands of the same bowler and Gary Ballance was pinned back by the extra pace of Morne Morkel.

No matter what combination they try, you can rely on England’s early unreliability and when Philander trapped Jonny Bairstow before lunch, Root’s rescue mission became more onerous. Not that you would have guessed it as, with his lieutenant and fellow poster boy, he took England into calm waters.

Ben Stokes’ half-century was not his most flamboyant, but it was mature. He also survived a scare, when bowled by Morkel off a no-ball.

His innings, finally ended by a swish at Kagiso Rabada, alleviated pressure on the later order. Moeen Ali, still there on 61, played with a Root-style aggression.

That aggression, Root’s third 50 came off 43 balls, should have been costly when he danced down a mile and missed but Maharaj had unforgivably overstepped. It summed up Root’s day. Blessed.

He is the fourth successive England captain to score a century in his first match in charge but to do it in the first innings of the first Test at Lord’s – with a team needing a leader from the front – is special.

Joe Root is special. LEAD FROM THE FRONT Root rode his luck before punishing the South Africans with an unbeaten 184 on day one at Lord’s