Much has been made of the remarkable sequence of events that led to Rob Lewis attending the ongoing Test between England and Sri Lanka at Galle.

The 37-year-old web designer from Surrey initially travelled to Sri Lanka in March to watch England’s originally scheduled World Test Championship series before the COVID-19 pandemic brought the tour.

After the tour’s cancellation, Lewis decided to stay in Sri Lanka in the hope that England would visit the country again in the near future. His patience was rewarded after some drama on the first day, when he was eventually allowed to watch the Test from the iconic fort that overlooks the ground.

His perseverance was acknowledged by none other than England captain Joe Root when he reached his double-hundred, his fourth in Test cricket. Upon reaching 200, Root took off his helmet, raised his bat and turned to Lewis, who was seen applauding Root from the fort.

Watch the moment below, as posted on Twitter by Test Match Special reporter and producer, Henry Moeran.

Root scoring 200 and waving to Randy Caddick, an England fan waiting for 10 months for the tour to happen, is why you have to love cricket pic.twitter.com/Cw9uGF6r8F

— Henry Moeran (@henrymoeranBBC) January 16, 2021

Speaking on the Barmy Army’s official Instagram account, Lewis said of the moment: “I haven’t got words to explain how I feel for that. Just absolutely ridiculous. I’m on top of the world, like it’s insane.”