Unstoppable Root comes of age with a majestic 254
THIS will be remembered as the time when Joe Root confirmed himself, with an innings as close to perfection as it is possible to see in cricket, as one of the true modern greats of Test match batting.
England ended the second day of this second Investec Test well on their way to a crucial serieslevelling victory, with Pakistan tumbling to 57 for four in reply to England’s 589 for eight declared.
But the day and this Test will belong to the 25-year-old from Sheffield who seems destined to become one of the very best batsmen England have produced.
Yes, this Test is being played on an Old Trafford pitch that offered little encouragement for either seamer or spinner throughout Root’s monumental stay of 10 hours and six minutes at the crease.
And, yes, the Pakistan attack, one of the best in the world, struggled to maintain the standards that saw them upset the odds at Lord’s, Yasir Shah going from 10-wicket first Test hero to the zero of conceding more than 200 runs.
But those spectators who preferred to divert their gaze from the tedious beer snakes that occupied parts of the crowd witnessed something special from the boy wonder who has grown into a statesman of this England side.
Certainly a Yorkshireman can rarely have earned the sort of sustained ovations that greeted the second double century of Root’s career, his 250 and his eventual 254 from the old enemy on this side of the Pennines.
And Pakistan, virtually to a man, ran to shake Root’s hand as he left the field after they had finally dismissed him, a welcome contrast to the bad blood that has existed between these sides in past series.
Of course, Root has long been considered among the very best batsmen among the current generation alongside Virat Kohli, who also hit a Test double century this week against West Indies, Kane Williamson and Steve Smith.
But he could not justify being honoured with the over-used term of a great while he was so often getting out between 50 and 100, as he has done 11 times since the start of last summer, to his growing frustration.
When Root twice got out to injudicious shots when seemingly well set in the first Test at Lord’s, he said he felt as if every mistake he made was being severely punished.
His response then was to eradicate all mistakes, to cut out any semblance of a risky shot against both the leg-spin of Yasir and the left-arm seam of Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz and Rahat Ali.
Only when Root was on 155 yesterday did he misjudge any of the 406 balls he faced, edging Yasir low to Younus Khan at slip, but seeing one of the senior citizens of this Pakistan side struggle to get his hands underneath it.
It could barely even be described as a blemish as Root marched on until he attempted to put Wahab into the crowd, did not get nearly enough on it, and was well caught by Mohammad Hafeez running in from deep midwicket.
By then his job was more than done and England were well on the way to the formidable total that represents a welcome return to their best after the self-inflicted blow of that first Test defeat.
This was a chastening day for Pakistan who began it knowing that they could still force their way back into the game if they could summon up one of those mesmerising wickettaking spells that have punctuated their history.
Any Pakistan optimism was quickly snuffed out by Root and the ever-maturing figure of Chris Woakes who, coming in as a quality nightwatchman on Friday, added a half century to his lengthening list of achievements this summer.
Hearts were in English mouths when Woakes was struck a painful blow on his right arm by Rahat, but he recovered to upper-cut Amir for six over third man and add 58 in a partnership of 103 with Root which deflated Pakistan.
The onslaught continued in the form of Ben Stokes, whose return after knee surgery was cut short by a controversial umpiring decision.
Not that it greatly mattered as England accelerated after tea, adding 56 in 6.2 overs before Alastair Cook called his batsmen in after Jonny Bairstow had fallen for another half century as he tried to push England towards 600.
Jimmy Anderson, controversially omitted from Lord’s, almost made the perfect comeback when Shan Masood, his ‘bunny’ from the United Arab Emirates last winter, nearly lobbed his first ball back to England’s record wicket-taker.
But it was that man Woakes, with 11 wickets at Lord’s to his name, who again made the breakthrough with the wickets of Hafeez and Azhar Ali as England began their attempt to bowl Pakistan out twice.
And when Stokes lured the jittery Younus into edging down the leg-side and Woakes sent back nightwatchman Rahat, Pakistan were in big trouble and left with a desperate struggle to survive the next three days.