England in firm control after Root 254

An excellently-composed double century from Joe Root and a counter-attacking fifty from Jonny Bairstow helped England amass a massive total and announce declaration on 589 for 8 in the final session on Day 2 of the Old Trafford Test on Sunday (July 23). After a forgettable day on the field, Pakistan were rocked further, as Chris Woakes carved open Pakistan's top-order as the visitors lost four wickets at stumps.

The day well and truly belonged to Root, as he demonstrated why he's among the very best batsmen of the modern era. For all the virtues of endurance and perseverance attributed to Test cricket, the longest format of the sport also cruelly tests a cricketer's ability to abstain. Featuring high in a rather brittle batting order, Root invariably carries a lot of expectations. At Lord's, he succumbed to the temptation of trying to sweep and pull uppishly. At Old Trafford, he's put in a commendable effort of playing the ball straight.

The sequence of play that saw Mohammad Amir run in and exert his all in a languid action and delivery, only for Root to happily let the ball go to 'keeper, summed up the fate of both the teams on Day 2 - Pakistan toiled in vain, while England cruised along comfortably. Root grew from strength to strength and even resisted the urge early on to go after Yasir Shah and Azhar Ali - the leg-spinning duo - who were turning deliveries into the pads from around the stumps. Chris Woakes, who started positively on Day 2, fell to Yasir's ploy but Root's impregnable resolve meant England were far from a collapse when teams took lunch.

Amir and Yasir returned with a bit of rejuvenation but that did not deter Root. Ben Stokes returned after missing the first Test, and brought along his nonchalance as he opted to go after the Pakistan bowling duo in a bid to accelerate England's ascent towards the 500-run mark. Root resumed on 185 but there wasn't a moment that felt like he'd let his guard down. An engrossing battle between him and Yasir was about to brew as the leg spinner was making judicious use of the rough areas to get the ball to turn viciously. One such delivery, which turned sharply from outside the leg stump, squared up Root, giving Pakistan hope of a vital breakthrough. The very next ball, however, Root reveled in his double century. Yasir dished out a similar delivery but Root, who had nearly measured every dimension of the previous delivery, executed an inch-perfect high-risk reverse sweep that fetched him a boundary.

Wahab Riaz earned his side a breakthrough, much against the run of play, when Stokes appeared to have feathered a short delivery down the leg side to Sarfraz Khan. Wahab didn't look convinced but Sarfraz's body language convinced Misbah to ask for a review after Kumar Dharmasena had turned down the appeal. After much deliberation over the spike that appeared on the snickometer and the faint mark on the glove that was seen on hot spot, third umpire Joel Wilson deemed it conclusive enough to overturn the Sri Lankan umpire's decision and send a fuming Stokes packing for 34. Pakistan had the chance to dismantle England's line-up when Jonny Bairstow nicked Yasir Shah in the very next over, only for Sarfraz to fluff a simple catching chance. Bairstow made optimum use of the lifeline, combining with Root to push England's total past 500.

Misbah's decision to begin the final session with part-timer Azhar's leg spin coincided with England's call to go full throttle to speed up the declaration call. Root swept to collect three successive boundaries in the second over after Tea while Bairstow went after Shan Masood and Yasir as England collected 43 runs in four overs. The onslaught forced Misbah to revert to Wahab, who brought down the curtains on Root's exceptional innings on 254 with an off-cutter that the England batsman failed to read. Root's across-the-line swipe went high in the air, but was well taken by Hafeez, who covered good ground running forward and put in a well-timed dive. Two overs later, Bairstow's wicket led Cook to announce declaration on 589 for 8.

Shan Masood and Hafeez made an overtly cautious start against James Anderson and Stuart Broad, before Woakes arrived and broke the latter's resolve. Azhar Ali cut a sorry figure for his 13-ball 1, as Woakes added a second wicket to his name. Ben Stokes created a massive crater in Pakistan's batting by dismissing the experienced Younis Khan. A pumped-up Woakes bounced out Rahat Ali, to reduce Pakistan to 53 for 4. Misbah-ul-Haq and Shan Masood dragged the visitors to 57 for 4.

Brief Scores: England 589/8 dec. (Joe Root 254, Alastair Cook 105, Chris Woakes 58; Wahab Riaz 3-106) lead Pakistan 57/4 (Shan Masood 20; Chris Woakes 3-18) by 532 runs