Sir Alastair Cook was surpassed by Root for the record number of tons by an England batter with his second century in the second Test.
Throughout the third morning and afternoon, he made 103, which was both inevitable and easy. In Test cricket, it was also Root’s fastest innings, composed of 111 deliveries.
England were 251 all out when Root became the final wicket to fall, and Sri Lanka managed an unlikely record 483 to tie the series.
Gus Atkinson took his tally of Test catches to 200 when he caught Nishan Madushka and Olly Stone at first slip in the evening session’s dark and challenging conditions.
The darkness descended. England had no choice but to bowl Root and Shoaib Bashir’s spin. An interruption that was so predictable that Sri Lanka moved Prabath Jayasuriya to number four to see them through the delay while the umpires fiddled with their lightmeters.
When it arrived, Jayasuriya was on three and Dimuth Karunaratne was on 23, putting Sri Lanka at 53-2 and 430 behind. At 18:00 BST, play was finally canceled for the day.
With two complete days to secure the eight wickets required for an unstoppable 2-0 series lead, England will be back on Sunday.
