Cricket-Root nears century, England 235-5 at tea

NOTTINGHAM, England :England captain Joe Root closed in on his 21st test century as he guided his team to 235-5 at tea on the penultimate day of the opening test against India on Saturday.

Root had top-scored in his side's below-par first innings total of 183 and the 30-year-old once again led by example to help England erase their 95-run deficit and move 140 ahead.

He was batting on 96 at the break, a stellar innings studded with 13 boundaries.

Jos Buttler was on 15 with England looking to set India a tricky fourth-innings target.

Earlier, Rishabh Pant gave a good account of his wicketkeeping skills, taking three catches after England resumed on 25 for no loss at Trent Bridge.

Mohammed Siraj drew first blood, inducing an edge from Rory Burns who made 18.

Zak Crawley fell in the next over, edging Jasprit Bumrah to Pant who dived to his right to take the catch.

Root added 89 runs with opener Dom Sibley to prop up the innings.

Sibley got an lbw decision overturned but departed on 28 when his angled bat met Bumrah's swinging ball and Pant dived to his left to smartly pouch the inside edge.

Jonny Bairstow made 30 before holing out to deep square leg off Siraj and Shardul Thakur trapped Dan Lawrence lbw for 25 but Root kept going with his risk-free accumulation of runs.

The first match of the five-test series between the teams marks the beginning of a new World Test Championship cycle.

(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; editing by Toby Davis and Ed Osmond)