Joe Root's century punishes Australia at Lord's LONDON: Joe Root has landed more than a glancing blow on Australia. Root, in the ECB's version of events the victim of an unprovoked physical attack by David Warner, retaliated with a patient, self-assured 178 not out at Lord's on Saturday. Unlike Warner, the 22-year-old landed his punch on a day when England subjected Australia to a methodical, grinding punishment and stretched its lead in the second Test to a whopping 566 runs. Patient punishment: Joe Root remains unbeaten on 178 at stumps. At stumps, England was 5-333 and Australia was demoralised, needing to defy recent batting form to save the second Test. Root did not know whether his captain Alastair Cook would declare overnight or whether he would be given a chance to notch 200. "Declarations are not my area, that's for Cooky and Andy [Flower] to sort out," Root said. I just wanted to bat for as long as possible today. Last night they bowled exceptionally well at us and early on this morning. We had to battle through that and grind them down and then try and reap the rewards towards the end of the day. To do it at Lord's against Australia is obviously very enjoyable. We've got to make sure we can hammer the game home and get a result from it. Having lasted just 53.3 overs in the first innings it would take a major turnaround for Australia to avoid sinking to a two-nil series deficit. Root was not the only source of Australian frustrations on the third day of the Lord's Test. In an umpiring decision to rival Stuart Broad's ignored edge at Trent Bridge as the worst of the series, TV official Tony Hill denied Australia a catch when Ian Bell was on 3. Bell, coming off back-to-back centuries, edged Ryan Harris to gully where Steve Smith took a low catch. Bell stood his ground, and umpire Marais Erasmus asked his colleague in the television booth upstairs to check. The replay, which always adds an element of doubt for low catches, still showed Smith's fingers under the ball, but third umpire Tony Hill gave the batsman not out. There was a weariness about the Australian on-field reaction that reflected their dire position in the match, but not from the official Cricket Australia twitter account, which hastily deleted the following: "That decision sucked ass #bullshit." An apology followed as CA investigated the offending, "inappropriate" tweet, which it said did not emanate from the official Twittter presence at Lord's. It was hard to argue with the sentiment, but Australia's performance at Lord's can't be blamed on anyone but the batsmen. It did not help that when Root, on 8, edged Shane Watson at a catchable height between the 'keeper and first slip on Friday, neither of them moved to catch it. When the boyish Yorkshireman reached his second Test century, England picked up the tempo. He picked off the spinners, Ashton Agar and Smith, with ease, smashing Smith for a couple of sixes in the second-last over of the day. But Australian captain Michael Clarke delayed taking the new ball, apparently unwilling to subject his fast bowlers to more work than they had already done. Bell went on to make 74 in 103 balls, and was caught whacking a long hop from Smith to mid-wicket, but still England did not declare, and a stand-off of sorts developed. The bowlers laboured for just two wickets in the day, when Tim Bresnan pulled James Pattinson to mid-wicket for 38 in the middle session. The nightwatchman had by then shared a 99-run stand with Root after the pair resumed at 3-31 on Friday morning. Pattinson was better than in the first innings. Watson bowled 12 overs and did not exactly radiate positive energy in doing so. He brooded after each ball and chipped at the England batsmen. "I think he was just enjoying his cricket like I was," said Root, ironically. I think he was just playing hard for his country and I was trying to do the same. You've got to try and come out on top. Root was unfazed, displaying a combination of technique and temperament to make an Australian selector weep. This was his first century as a Test opener, following his move from the middle order, and his calm approach contrasted sharply with the carelessness of the Australian batsmen, who lost a disastrous 6-54 in the middle session on Friday. As a result of that session, and of Root's effort to drive home England's advantage, Australia is crashing towards its sixth consecutive Test defeat, a losing streak not suffered by an Australian team since 1984. Total votes: 6882.