T P SPIN SPECIAL ON CAPTAIN MARVEL

AFTER passing Geoff Boycott’s Test tally of 8,114 runs on Saturday, Joe Root overhauled Kevin Pietersen’s 8,181 and David Gower’s 8,231 yesterday. Root’s 186 put him up to 8,238, and only three players are ahead of him in England’s all-time list: Alastair Cook (12,472), Graham Gooch (8,900) and Alec Stewart (8,463).

ROOT has already totalled 415 runs in this series. All 11 of his England team-mates put together have totalled 383.

AFTER yesterday’s cruel dismissal, Root has now been run out eight times in 180 innings, the most of any England batsman. Geoff Boycott and Matt Prior are next, having been run out seven times each. The record is held by former Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting, with 15 run outs in 287 innings — including that famous one by England substitute fielder Gary Pratt in the 2005 Ashes.

THE YORKSHIREMAN has faced 633 balls across the two Galle Tests. The only time he has been dismissed by a bowler was when he slogged off-spinner Dilruwan Perera to deep midwicket in the first innings of the first Test with only No 11 Stuart Broad for company.

AMONG visiting batsmen in Sri Lanka, only West Indies’ Brian Lara (688 runs in six innings in 2001) and Australia’s Mike Hussey (463 in five in 2011) have made more runs in a Test series. Root yesterday went past Sachin Tendulkar’s 390 in five innings in 2010.

ROOT has now passed 150 nine times in Tests. Only four England players have done so more often: Alastair Cook (11), Wally Hammond, Len Hutton and Kevin Pietersen (10 each).

HE IS the first England player to pass 150 in successive Tests since Marcus Trescothick made 194 at Lord’s and 151 at Chester-le-Street against Bangladesh in 2005.