England Test skipper Joe Root feels pleased with the team’s performances on the day three of the second Test against the hosts Sri Lanka that helped them to achieve a good lead at the end of the day. However, he is unsure about their present status in this Test match.

Starting the day three on 0/0 in the third innings of the Test with 46 runs trail, England managed to score 324/9 with 278 runs lead before the bad light and rain forced to early call off the day. The skipper played a brilliant captaincy knock of 124 runs off 146 balls (10 fours and 2 sixes).

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While the centurion Root stayed calm at the other end, the other players helped him to stretch the scoreboard with some crucial partnerships. Apart from Root’s century, the opener Rory Burns scored 59 runs and the lower-order batsman Ben Foakes was not out on 51 runs at the end of the day.

Root feels that the surface was challenging but the boys’ performances on the day three make him pleased.

At the end of the day, Root told Sky Sports, “That was a thoroughly enjoyable one today. Obviously quite challenging on that surface. We ask the guys to play in a certain manner in these conditions, you want to set an example and you want to lead from the front. When it comes off as it has today, that’s really pleasing.

“You look at the group of players we’ve got, it suits most of the guys’ natural games. You’ve got to play to your advantage and we’ve done that this tour so far with the bat. We’ve given ourselves a chance in this game.

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“To start I felt a bit all over the place. I felt quite calm underneath but the legs were flapping on the outside. It’s about taking a few risks early, get the bowlers bowling in the areas you want them to bowl in. As the innings went on, you sort of figure out a really good method of how to play on that surface.

“The best thing about it was, we kept the score going at a really good rate. The temptation is to go into your shell and think, it’s going to be really hard, this, but the guys played with a lot of freedom and a lot of courage.”

Though England has a good lead of 278 runs, Root is unsure how the pitch will react after the rain. While the Sri Lankan off-spinner Akila Dananjaya (6/106) bagged six wickets in the third innings of the match, Root is not sure whether the pitch will provide more spin or not after the rain.

The English captain said, “It’s hard to say. It’ll be interesting how the pitch plays with this amount of rain. Whether it spins a bit more, or holds together a bit more. The most important thing is we recognise how it’s going to be like and adapt very quickly. We might have to be a little bit more patient and attack the stumps a little bit more often.”