Joe Root heading for century as England build on lead over Sri Lanka

Joe Root took lunch on 99 not out as England used a shortened second morning to build on their position of strength in the First Test against Sri Lanka.

England lost only Jonny Bairstow, who did not add to his overnight 43, in a session that was delayed by rain.

But Root and the debutant Dan Lawrence put on an entertaining unbroken stand of 75 to take England into the lead and put them right in charge of the Test. By lunch, their lead was 71 with seven first innings wickets in hand.

Drizzle – unusual in Galle, where the rain is normally rather heavier – saw the start of play delayed by 70 minutes until 11.10am local time, and saw two overs lost from the day.

Two balls into the day, the sweeping Root survived an lbw review from Dilruwan Perera. It was a close shave; he was a long way down, and saved by the umpire’s call of not out. By the end of the over, Root had driven four down the ground and England were underway.

At the other end, Lasith Embuldeniya struck with his second ball of the day to remove Bairstow. Having put on 114 with Root, he lunged forward and was caught well by gully, very close in. Quite why the catch needed to be sent upstairs was unclear.

Lawrence immediately looked at ease, and his first Test boundary – a cover drive off a full toss – took England into the lead. He left and used his feet well, and was soon unfurling a range of attractive strokes, including nicely cut boundaries and a spectacular swept six over cow corner, for which he held the pose.

Root was typically busy, slotting into Lawrence’s slip stream, picking off singles and the occasional boundary. He swept three in the final over before lunch, moving him to 99, but could not get back on strike.

England are enjoying a fine Test. On day one they bowled Sri Lanka, who were poor, out for 135. The pitch is already turning lavishly.