JOE ROOT moved up to second on the all-time list of Test run-scorers, going past three greats of the game in one fell swoop following a majestic century for England against India this afternoon.

Root overtook former India batter Rahul Dravid by reaching 30 on the third morning of the fourth Rothesay Test and adding another extra run saw him leapfrog ex-South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis.

In getting to 120 moments before tea as England established a healthy first-innings lead at Old Trafford, Root overhauled former Australia captain Ricky Ponting’s tally of 13,378 runs.

Only the near-sacred haul of 15,921 runs made by India’s celebrated Sachin Tendulkar remains for Root although no doubt uppermost in the 34-year-old’s mind is rubberstamping England’s dominance.

He went to tea on 121 not out, with great mate Ben Stokes unbeaten at the other end on 36, out of England’s 433 for four and a lead of 75 against an increasingly battered and bruised India.

His 38th Test hundred put him joint fourth among the most prolific centurions in the format, equalling Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara, as Root trod where England’s top-three could not.

As with Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, who laid excellent foundations for England with a 166-run opening stand in reply to India’s 358, Ollie Pope could not turn fifty into a hundred, dismissed for 71.

Both Pope and Harry Brook were dismissed by Washington Sundar, curiously overlooked until the 69th over, but the drift he was able to find delayed India taking the second new ball after a frustrating morning.

Jasprit Bumrah gave a gift first up when he strayed on to Root’s legs and was tucked away for four although the Yorkshireman survived a close lbw review on 21 and then should have been run out on 22.

Ravindra Jadeja was off-target with his throw after a mid-pitch mix-up which left Root stranded. Aside from the one miscommunication, Root and Pope’s frequent singles drove India to distraction.

Root used them with nudges into the offside within the space of three deliveries to climb above Dravid and Kallis and then did so again to reach a 104th 50-plus Test score — only Tendulkar has more.

By then, Pope had also got to his fifty, having been reprieved on 48 after offering the toughest of chances. Dhruv Jurel had come up to the stumps to combat Pope advancing down the wicket to Anshul Kamboj but a devilish under-edge did not stick in the substitute wicketkeeper’s gloves.

With India running out of ideas, Sundar was thrown the ball just before lunch and operated in tandem with fellow spinner Jadeja upon the resumption. It was Sundar who got the breakthrough, ending a 144-run stand as he found a bit of drift with a ball 76 overs old as Pope overbalanced and edged to slip.

Brook was drawn out of his crease, again done in by the drift, and stumped for three as India stuck with the old ball, but Root, regarded as one of the world’s best players of spin, was unflustered.

By the time India took the new ball, England were in the lead and Root was in the 90s.

There was the odd dicey moment, with Root struck on the pad by Mohammed Siraj on 98 and the ball crept by leg stump but Bumrah bowled just one over with the new ball before leaving the field, amid suspicions of an ankle injury.

That left the gentler Kamboj to take over and a leg-side delivery was tickled fine for Root’s 12th four and 178-ball hundred before he took in the applause and was congratulated by Stokes.

With Siraj also limping, Root ticked over and moved level with Ponting with a back foot punch off Shardul Thakur and went ahead of him by advancing to Kamboj, opening his blade and guiding down behind point for one in the penultimate over before tea, after the Morning Star went to print.