Joe Root and Harry Brook put England in strong position against West Indies

Joe Root and Harry Brook helped themselves to hundreds as England set the West Indies a target of 385 to win the second Test at Trent Bridge.

On a day-four pitch showing no real demons the Yorkshire duo made sure not to miss out, Root holding court as he reeled off his 32nd Test century after Brook had sped to his fifth in just 14 matches.

It was the younger man’s first on home soil, having previously celebrated tons in Rawalpindi, Multan, Karachi and Wellington, while Root has scored five in Nottingham alone.

A fourth-wicket stand of 189 between the pair provided the backbone as they built a total of 425, making this side the first England XI to reach 400 in both innings of a Test match.

With four sessions left in the game England were favourites to get the 10 wickets they needed to secure a series win but the tourists bowled with enough heart to give themselves a fighting chance.

England resumed 207 runs ahead of 248 for three, with Root and Brook well into their work and in no mood to let the position slip.

In the next two sessions they scored 177 for seven, with three late wickets at the end of the morning’s play providing the only real stumbling block. Brook started the mini-collapse when his fluent knock ended with a flat-footed outside edge off Jayden Seales before Ben Stokes hooked to fine leg and Jamie Smith nicked the last ball before lunch.

That left Root in charge of stretching the advantage and he controlled the situation in an effortless performance that took him level with Steve Smith, Kane Williamson and Steve Waugh on 32 Test tons, just one behind leading Englishman Sir Alastair Cook.

open image in gallery

Brook took the leading role in the initial skirmishes, thumping the fifth delivery of the morning through the covers as he began the seemingly inevitable process of converting his overnight score of 71.

He was even more emphatic when Seales overpitched, hammering a straight drive down the ground for four more.

The West Indies tried to unsettle Brook with the short ball, but only one bumper, from Shamar Joseph, really looked like knocking him of stride. He cruised to 99 by steering Alzarri Joseph to wide of gully and sprinted through for a single to bring up his ton.

Brook took the moment in his stride, but his team-mates filled the balcony to acknowledge his efforts and were back on their feet two balls later as Root notched up a no-frills half-century. There were fewer thrills from Root, just a steady supply of low-risk runs.

Brook paid a high price for his first error of the day, flashing into Josh Da Silva’s gloves as he looked to add to his 13 boundaries.

open image in gallery

The stage looked set for Stokes to assert some authority, but he walked straight into a trap, picking out the waiting catcher with a hook that lacked intent.

The tourists grabbed another with the final ball of the session, Kevin Sinclair getting a thin edge as Smith pressed forward to a flat off-break.

Root advanced to his hundred without breaking sweat in the afternoon, getting there in 158 deliveries as he laced a seventh four through the off side. Only then did he delve deeper into his bag of tricks, unleashing a reverse ramp over the slips off Shamar Joseph.

His dismissal, a strangely soft-handed chip to short cover, effectively drew the curtain on the innings, but Seales finished with a deserved four-for as he cleaned up Mark Wood and Shoaib Bashir for ducks.