Skipper Joe Root continued his charge scoring a double century on Saturday.
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Root reached his second 200-plus score in three matches with a six of Ravichandran Ashwin 41st over. Root has been batting for 508 minutes now. Unbeaten on 209, Root has faced 353 balls, hitting 19 fours and two sixes. After adding 200 runs with Dom Sibley yesterday, Root sent India on a leather hunt along with Ben Stokes. Root and Stokes added 124 runs.
At lunch, skipper Root was batting on 156 (277 balls, 16 fours, 1 six) while Stokes who was accounted for by Shahbaz Nadeem, had reached a strokeful 63 (98 balls, 9 fours, 2 sixes) as the visiting team reached 385 for 3 at the lunch break.
England added 99 runs in the session between lunch and tea and lost one wicket. In the first session, Stokes played some powerful strokes, employing the sweep shot against the spinners, and reached his 50 off 73 balls with a reverse sweep off Nadeem.
For India, the experienced trio of Ishant Sharma (0/42), Jasprit Bumrah (2/66) and Ravichandran Ashwin (1/114) tried their best but could not find the way past Root.
Shahbaz Nadeem (1/138) and Washington Sundar (0/80) could not make any impact and were taken for easy runs as India's woes multiplied.
At Tea, Root and Ollie Pope were batting on 209 and 24 runs, respectively. Earlier in the day, Bumrah almost got Stokes with a brilliant yorker, which the southpaw somehow managed to keep out.
The hard-working Bumrah came up with a searing yorker closer to lunch but Root was able to bring his bat down in time.
"First batsman in the history of Test cricket to score a double century in his 100th Test – JOE ROOT. Sensational innings from the England skipper!," the International Cricket Council (ICC) tweeted.
Former Pakistan skipper Inzamam ul Haq, who hit 184 against India in Bengaluru in 2005, held the previous best score in the 100th Test.
Root's 218-run knock ended when he was trapped in front of the wicket by spinner Shahbaz Nadeem. This was Root's fifth double century.
He joined the likes of compatriot Alastair Cook, South Africa's Graeme Smith and India's Rahul Dravid, who all have five double tons.
On Friday, Root became the ninth player in the history of the game to score a ton on his 100th appearance when he brought up his 20th hundred.
