England have seized control of the second Test against Pakistan at Lord’s. Even though they managed just 290 in their first innings, their bowlers came out firing and blew Pakistan away for only 110. By stumps on Day 2, England’s lead had grown to 261 and they only look stronger as the game goes on.
On top of that, Joe Root set a new world record. He passed Ricky Ponting’s record for the most Test runs scored at home and did it with an innings of just 24. Root now has 7,594 runs in Tests played in England, pushing past Ponting’s 7,578 in Australia.
Here’s a look at the list:
Root: 7,594 runs, 24 hundreds, average 53.85 in 156 innings.
Ponting: 7,578 runs, 23 hundreds, average 56.97 in 154 innings.
Tendulkar: 7,216 runs, 22 hundreds, average 52.67 in 153 innings.
Jayawardene: 7,167 runs, 23 hundreds, average 59.72 in 129 innings.
Kallis: 7,035 runs, 23 hundreds, average 56.73 in 143 innings.
Back to the match—rain delayed the start on Day 1. Pakistan sent England in to bat, hoping to take advantage of cloudy skies. Mohammad Abbas made the most of it, picking up early wickets and putting England in trouble at 80 for 4. Jamie Smith and Jordan Cox dug in for important half-centuries before Gus Atkinson added crucial lower-order runs, pushing England to 290 by early Day 2.
When it was Pakistan’s turn to bat, things went downhill fast. Ollie Robinson and Jofra Archer hit their straps straight away. Pakistan collapsed to 110 with only Azan Awais hanging in for 46. The visitors had another blow as Imam-ul-Haq got injured and couldn’t bat.
England’s batters came out again but lost three quick wickets. Still, they fought their way to 83 for 3 at the close. Heading into Day 3, England are totally on top and Pakistan have a mountain to climb.