Cricket-Root, Anderson give England lead with record stand

By Sam Holden NOTTINGHAM, England, July 12 (Reuters) - England's Joe Root and James Anderson shared an unbeaten test record last-wicket stand of 187 on the fourth morning of the opening test against India at Trent Bridge on Saturday to put the hosts 28 runs ahead in the first innings. Yorkshire batsmen Root hit a resilient unbeaten 143, his fourth century in tests, to provide the backbone to the hosts' innings in difficult circumstances following a collapse to 202 for seven on the previous day. The right-handed batsman shielded his partner Anderson to 81, a record for an England number 11 in a test match, to take their side to 485 for nine at lunch in reply to the visitors' first-innings total of 457. Root, who hit an unbeaten double ton in the series against Sri Lanka last month, and Anderson had reached stumps on the third day at 352 for nine and rode their luck at times to put on another 133 in the morning session on Saturday. India could have ended England's innings when Anderson, on 45, hit Mohammed Shami to gully but Murali Vijay missed an easy catch and the number 11 made them pay, hitting 17 boundaries on his way to a career-best score. The partnership meant it was also the first time in tests that both side's last-wicket stands have made over 100, following Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shami's 111 for India's final wicket on Thursday. Australia's Phil Hughes and Ashton Agar shared the previous record for the best last-wicket stand when they scored 163 against England at the same ground during the Ashes last year. (Editing by Sudipto Ganguly)