Summary

  • Root bats all day for 186 - run out from last ball

  • Root now fourth on all-time England Test runs list after passing Pietersen & Gower

  • Buttler (55) and Bess (32) offer stoic support to Root

  • Sri Lanka spinner Embuldeniya takes seven wickets

  • Second Test, day three, Galle, England 1-0 up in two-match series

Live Reporting

Amy Lofthouse and Matthew Henry

  1. Eng 216-4

    Root 118, Buttler 51

    There was that small scare earlier when Buttler was given out lbw despite a big inside edge. It looked as if he could still be out caught off the boot but the replays showed the ball bounced just in front.

    Apart from that delivery, Buttler has been very much in control.

  2. Jonathan Agnew
    BBC cricket correspondent on Test Match Special

    Jos Buttler has played really well.

  3. 50 runs

    50 for Buttler

    Jos Buttler cuts away a four that takes him to fifty.

    A really important knock. England needed this.

    Joe Root is whacking his bat with his glove in applause.

  4. Phil Tufnell
    Former England spinner on BBC Test Match Special

    It looks like Sri Lanka have given up trying to get Joe Root out. Everyone is spread out.

  5. Eng 211-4

    Root 117, Buttler 47

    I'm not sure what happened in that over. I was googling water monitors. They are the world's second heaviest lizard, apparently.

    This one may have been about two-foot including it's long tail.

  6. Eng 210-4

    I'm reliably informed the lizard is a water monitor. Play is continuing despite its presence.

  7. Phil Tufnell
    Former England spinner on BBC Test Match Special

    It's like a dinosaur!

  8. Jonathan Agnew
    BBC cricket correspondent on Test Match Special

    I don't envy the groundsman who is going to have to deal with that lizard.

  9. Eng 209-4

    This lizard is one of those that looks like a mini-dinosaur or something. It's scaly, has a big long tail, a tongue that keeps peeping out and is skulking around the boundary edge on four legs.

  10. Jonathan Agnew
    BBC cricket correspondent on Test Match Special

    It does look menacing...

  11. Phil Tufnell
    Former England spinner on BBC Test Match Special

    There's a lizard on the field! It looks like the one that chased me around Sri Lanka...

  12. Eng 208-4

    There's a full-on lizard on the outfield!

    Jos Buttler reverse-sweeps for four but I am very distracted by this.

  13. Eng 203-4

    Trail by 178

    Jos Buttler waves to the dressing room for a drink at the end of the over. It's hot work in the afternoon sun.

    This crucial partnership is worth 71.

  14. Daniel Norcross
    BBC Test Match Special

    That is a lovely, lovely shot from Jos Buttler. It's got a bit of the Ian Bell about it.

  15. Eng 203-4

    Lovely from Jos Buttler. He hits the seamer for four with one of his check-drives. It goes all along the ground to the rope.

  16. Phil Tufnell
    Former England spinner on BBC Test Match Special

    The reverse sweep seems to be Jos Buttler's go-to shot. It seems to be the least risky shot he plays.

  17. Eng 198-4

    Trail by 183

    I think Neil has just explained my point of view on this topic perfectly. And in a much better fashion than I had managed.

    Both Root and Murray are, without doubt, two of my favourite sportsmen.

    Things are just happening for Sri Lanka. A ball from Perera spits to Buttler.

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    Root is very much the Andy Murray of the 'Fab Four'. A quality player in his own right, but the numbers the other three are racking up are ridiculous. More hundreds and better averages; the case for the other three is pretty compelling.

    Neil in Sheffield

  19. Eng 195-4

    The ball tracking of that lbw shout shows it would have indeed gone over the stumps. Still, Lakmal is in a good spell here.

  20. Simon Mann
    BBC Test Match Special

    You feel if England are going to get something out of this then Joe Root has to go big.