Twitter Reactions: England close day three on a high after centuries from Joe Root and Ollie Pope

Joe Root continued his impressive form and he remained unbeaten on 163 at stumps on day three.

By Manoj Kumar

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Joe Root
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Joe Root. (Photo by Philip Brown/Popperfoto/Popperfoto via Getty Images)

After two days of batter’s domination at Trent Bridge, the second Test between England and New Zealand so far did move in the direction of the visitors. However, the hosts have made a strong statement with the bat on the third day and have ensured that a loss from here on is nearly impossible in the current scenario.

Earlier, England resumed day three at 90 for 1 with Ollie Pope (51*) and Alex Lees (34*) at the crease, and the home side was trailing by 463 runs. Pope and Lees went on to add 50 more runs at the start of day three as the partnership seemed to hurt the Kiwis at the start of the day. Lees reached his half-century soon but he perished after a well-made 67 to become the first victim of the day’s play.

Joe Root and Ollie Pope’s massive partnership helps England near New Zealand’s total

In came the in-form batter Joe Root and he joined hands with Pope, who was nearing his century. The duo added 187 for the third wicket, with Root being the aggressor of the two. Pope reached a magnificent century in the process while Root kept finding the boundaries on the other end. Root soon reached his half-century in no time with a flurry of boundaries and went on to score yet another century as well.

Finally, Trent Boult came to the rescue of the visitors as he managed to dismiss Pope for 145 off 239 deliveries. Pope’s superlative knock comprised 13 fours, and three sixes and put the hosts in the driver’s seat. Jonny Bairstow’s stay in the crease was short-lived as he was removed for just eight runs by Boult as the scoreboard read 344 for 4. Skipper Ben Stokes joined the party with Root, and the pair stitched a quickfire partnership to get back things in place.

Stokes made a 33-ball 46 which included six fours and two sixes while Root was happy to take the singles from the other end. However, Michael Bracewell managed to get the wicket of Stokes. Wicketkeeper-batter Ben Foakes managed to steady the ship with a 70-ball 24 while Root (163*) reached his 150-run mark towards the end of the day. England was trailing by 80 runs at stumps with five wickets in hand at 473 for 5.

Here’s how the Twitter reacted to day three’s play

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