Root double century piles agony on India after Stokes blitz

Chennai - Root’s marathon 209 not out included 19 boundaries and two sixes

England captain Joe Root smashed his second double century in three matches to power the tourists to a mammoth 454-4 at tea on day two of the opening test against India on Saturday.

Playing his 100th test, Root raised 124 runs with Ben Stokes to consolidate England’s position in the first match of the four-test series.

Root’s marathon 209 not out included 19 boundaries and two sixes, the second of which brought up his fifth double hundred.

Ollie Pope was batting on 24 at the other end at Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium.

Resuming the day on 263-3, Root looked typically solid against an Indian attack which could manage only a couple of half-hearted lbw appeals against him.

Stokes, test cricket’s top all-rounder, asserted himself at the other end and gave an early indication of his mindset by hitting off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin over his head for a six.

India’s desperation showed when they opted for back-to-back reviews, both in vain, after lbw appeals against Stokes and Root had been turned down.

Ashwin dropped a return catch from Stokes, then on 31, and in the next over, the all-rounder’s slog-sweep brushed a diving Cheteshwar Pujara’s fingers at midwicket.

Pujara later made amends by taking a juggling catch near the rope to dismiss Stokes, who had attempted a slog-sweep against left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem.

Stokes smashed 10 boundaries and three sixes in his entertaining 82.

India have found Root, who scored a double hundred and a big century in his previous two tests in Sri Lanka, tougher to remove, the batsman looking at ease against both pace and spin on a slow track.