For the second successive Saturday and the fifth time this year Joe Root delivered a precious century for England, batting through three intoxicating sessions of Test cricket that both underlined his golden form and, more broadly, why the longest format continues to capture the imagination.

As he walked off at the close, his whites scarcely betraying the toil of nearly nine hours at the crease, Root was 180 not out from 321 balls and receiving handshakes and back slaps from his opponents. The final wicket had just fallen at the other end, Jimmy Anderson bowled by Mohammed Shami, but England had put 391 on the board in response to India’s first innings 364 and a slender lead of 27 had been secured.

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