Hamilton: Star England batter Joe Root added another feather in his cap during the knock of 32 runs against New Zealand. He joined Ricky Ponting to become only the second batter to score 1500 Test runs in a calendar year on multiple occasions. Root needed 30 more runs before the start of the fixture in Hamilton to cross the mark of 1500 Test runs. The right-handed batter achieved the feat during the second session of the second day’s play in the match.
Root, who surpassed Alistar Cook’s record of scoring most runs for England in Test cricket earlier this year, amassed 1708 runs from 15 Tests in 2021. In the ongoing year, he has racked up 1502 Test runs from 17 matches played so far.
Players to score 1500+ Test runs in 2 calendar years -
— MHK (@SRKzHunter) December 15, 2024
Ricky Ponting
JOE ROOT#NZvsENG
Ponting, who is Australia’s leading run-scorer across formats achieved the same feat in 2003 and 2005. He amassed 1503 Test runs from 11 matches in 2003 while racked up 1544 Test runs in 2005.
A total of seven batters - Mohammad Yousuf, Viv Richards, Root, Graeme Smith, Michael Clarke, Sachin Tendulkar, and Ponting - have scored more than 1500 runs in a calendar year in Test cricket.
| Player | Year | Mat | Inns | Runs | 100 | 50 |
| Mohammad Yousuf (PAK) | 2006 | 11 | 19 | 1788 | 9 | 3 |
| IVA Richards (WI) | 1976 | 11 | 19 | 1710 | 7 | 5 |
| Joe Root (ENG) | 2021 | 15 | 29 | 1708 | 6 | 4 |
| GC Smith (SA) | 2008 | 15 | 25 | 1656 | 6 | 6 |
| MJ Clarke (AUS) | 2012 | 11 | 18 | 1595 | 5 | 3 |
| SR Tendulkar (IND) | 2010 | 14 | 23 | 1562 | 7 | 5 |
| RT Ponting (AUS) | 2005 | 15 | 28 | 1544 | 6 | 6 |
| RT Ponting (AUS) | 2003 | 11 | 18 | 1503 | 6 | 4 |
| JE Root (ENG) | 2024 | 17* | 30 | 1502 | 6 | 4 |
Root has been a prolific performer in Test cricketer over the years and has notched up 12,886 runs in the longest format with an average of 50.9.
New Zealand have crushed ahead in the match as they bundled out England on a total of 143 after posting 347 in the first innings. England are leading the series by 2-0 and so the Blackcaps are aiming to salvage some pride by winning the last fixture of the series.
