Joe Root stamped his authority over the Indian bowling attack with a third masterful hundred in as many games, putting England in a dominant position on day two of the second Test in Leeds on Thursday.
Though India won at Lord's, they were not able to trouble Root (121 off 165) and the England skipper extended his purple patch with his 23rd Test hundred and sixth of the year to take his team to a commanding 423 for eight at stumps on day two.
England now lead by 345 runs.
After openers Rory Burns (61 off 153) and Haseeb Hameed (68 off 195) gave England the start they were desperately looking for, Root and Dawid Malan (70 off 128) shared a brisk 139-run stand off 189 balls to pile misery on the Indians who were all out for 78 on day one.
Root as usual was a delight to watch, scoring runs at will and all around the wicket. His 14 boundaries included his trademark punch through the cover, which brought about his fifty before he flicked one between mid-on and midwicket to get to three figures.
Such was the range on offer that he also swept and reverse swept left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja. Barring Mohammed Shami, the Indian pacers had another ordinary day and Root made them pay for their erratic line and length.
With his 23rd hundred, Root equalled Kevin Pietersen's record and is now only behind Alastair Cook (33).
Jasprit Bumrah managed to get one past Root's watertight defence late in the final session to end a memorable innings in front of his home crowd. India managed to pick five wickets in the session but the damage had already been done.
Malan, playing his first Test in three years, lent much needed solidity in an otherwise struggling line-up. With the confidence that the southpaw played, it didn't seem that he was away from the five-day game for a long time.
India find themselves thrown in at the deep end and will have to bat extremely well to first avoid an innings defeat and then save the game from there on.
The pitch has dried out and Indian pacers failed to get purchase out of it for the second day running.
Earlier, runs came thick and fast for England in the afternoon session as India bowlers appeared toothless, both with old and new ball. The hosts added 116 runs in the session with Root and Malan collecting runs comfortably.
Against the run of play, Malan picked up a faint edge while trying to flick Mohammad Siraj at the stroke of tea.
