England captain Joe Root reached his fourth double century for England - only Wally Hammond and Alistair Cook have scored more. Getty
England captain Joe Root reached his fourth double century for England - only Wally Hammond and Alistair Cook have scored more. Getty
England captain Joe Root reached his fourth double century for England - only Wally Hammond and Alistair Cook have scored more. Getty
England captain Joe Root reached his fourth double century for England - only Wally Hammond and Alistair Cook have scored more. Getty

Joe Root completes double century for England but Sri Lanka finally show spirit in first Test


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England captain Joe Root completed his double-century, but Sri Lanka began a spirited fight-back to close Day 3 of the first Test in Galle on 156-2 in their second innings, trailing the visitors by 130 runs.

Opener Lahiru Thirimanne anchored the Sri Lanka innings with an unbeaten 76 and will resume on Sunday morning with nightwatchman Lasith Embuldeniya, who has yet to score.

It was a vastly improved effort on the home side’s first innings score of 135, as they chase down England's first innings total of 421.

Kusal Perera (62) was the first wicket to fall, caught at deep point by Jack Leach after trying to launch seamer Sam Curran to the boundary.

Spinner Leach then had the out-of-form Kusal Mendis caught by wicketkeeper Jos Buttler for 15 shortly before bad light took the players from the field.

Root will be disappointed his side did not make further inroads on a turning wicket, but it was still a memorable day for him as he brought up his fourth Test double-ton with a score of 228.

He also became the seventh English batsman to pass 8,000 test runs but was the last man out, caught on the mid-on boundary off spinner Dilruwan Perera (4-109), whose excellent performance on the third morning kept England somewhat in check.

"It feels great [to score double hundred] and good to be in the position we are," Root said. "It would have been nice to get a couple more wickets tonight but that one late on is a real bonus for us.

"It gives us a great opportunity in morning to apply a lot of pressure and hammer home what is a strong advantage in this game."

Root's control and ability to sweep Sri Lanka’s spinners pointed to a strong return to form after he went throughout 2020 without reaching three figures.

England resumed the third morning on 320 for four as Root and Buttler (30) scored 52 runs in quick time before Sri Lanka received a bit of luck.

A massive six from Root into the stands left the ball out of shape. When it was replaced, the home side suddenly found movement that had been lacking up to that point.

Seamer Asitha Fernando (2-44) removed Buttler and Curran in successive balls, before Dom Bess was run out in a mix-up with Root as the visitors lost three wickets for 10 runs.

Perera then removed the final three batsmen as the home side picked up six wickets for 101 more runs in the morning session.

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Ai Seoul:  Suspended all flights to China

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Indonesia's Lion Air: Suspending all flights to China from February

South Korea's Asiana Airlines,  Jeju Air  and Jin Air: Suspend all flights

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Founders: Abdulaziz AlBlooshi and Harsh Hirani

Based: Dubai, UAE

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Overview

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Elina Svitolina (UKR) [3] v Jennifer Brady (USA)

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) v Belinda Bencic (SUI [4]

Not before 7pm:

Sofia Kenin (USA) [5] v Elena Rybakina (KAZ)

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Karolina Muchova (CZE) v Katerina Siniakova (CZE)

Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) v Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR)

Veronika Kudermetova (RUS) v Dayana Yastermska (UKR)

Petra Martic (CRO) [8] v Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)

Sorana Cirstea (ROU) v Anett Kontaveit (EST)

MATCH INFO

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

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Stars: Colin Farrell, Hugh Grant 

Three out of five stars

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The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE. 

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Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

 

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By Victor Davis Hanson
 

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
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Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
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The years Ramadan fell in May

1987

1954

1921

1888

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Day 1, Abu Dhabi Test: At a glance

Moment of the day Dimuth Karunaratne had batted with plenty of pluck, and no little skill, in getting to within seven runs of a first-day century. Then, while he ran what he thought was a comfortable single to mid-on, his batting partner Dinesh Chandimal opted to stay at home. The opener was run out by the length of the pitch.

Stat of the day – 1 One six was hit on Day 1. The boundary was only breached 18 times in total over the course of the 90 overs. When it did arrive, the lone six was a thing of beauty, as Niroshan Dickwella effortlessly clipped Mohammed Amir over the square-leg boundary.

The verdict Three wickets down at lunch, on a featherbed wicket having won the toss, and Sri Lanka’s fragile confidence must have been waning. Then Karunaratne and Chandimal's alliance of precisely 100 gave them a foothold in the match. Dickwella’s free-spirited strokeplay meant the Sri Lankans were handily placed at 227-4 at the close.

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4,872 matches 

1,942 teams

116 pitches

76 nations

26 UAE teams

15 Lebanese teams

2 Kuwaiti teams

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Name: Ayisha Abdulrahman Gareb

Age: 57

From: Kalba

Occupation: Mukrema, though she washes bodies without charge

Favourite things to do: Visiting patients at the hospital and give them the support they need.
Role model: Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women's Union, Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation and President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood.

 

Andor
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