Lord’s (London): Joe Root continued to cement his legacy as one of the best in the business during the second Test against Sri Lanka by equalling a prolific achievement. He smashed a century during the opening day of the Test match and equalled Alistair Cook’s record of scoring most hundreds as an England batter.
Root walked into bat after England lost a couple of wickets early in the innings. They were reduced to 42/2 but Root first formed a formidable partnership with Harry Brook and then Jamie Smith offered some company.
🏴 ROOOOOOOOOT! 🏴
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 29, 2024
💯 Thirty-three Test hundreds
⬆️ Joint most England Test centuries
🌍 The world's top-ranked men's Test batter
👀 Closing in on the most Test runs for England
Joe Root, you are 𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 🐐 pic.twitter.com/Q4OEnApIVR
The 33-year-old played at a brisk pace to steer the innings but took 12 deliveries to complete the 100th run and achieve the milestone. Root scored the 33rd Test hundred of his career and became the joint leader in the list of most red-ball hundreds for the English team. Root’s knock saw him break a plethora of records.
Joe Root in Test Cricket:
— Tanuj Singh (@ImTanujSingh) August 29, 2024
- 145 Matches.
- 265 innings.
- 12,274 Runs.
- 50.71 Average.
- 33 Hundreds.
- 64 Fifties.
- 5 Double Hundreds.
- JOE ROOT, THE GREATEST EVER FOR ENGLAND...!!!! 🐐 pic.twitter.com/cEVSRqu7nE
He also became the first active player across the globe to complete 33 Test hundreds. Earlier, he was equalled with New Zealand batter Kane Williamson and Australian batter Steve Smith with 32 tons but now stands at the top. Virat Kohli is positioned fourth amongst active players with 29 Test centuries to his name.
Most hundreds for England in Test cricket (matches):
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) August 29, 2024
Joe Root - 33 (144)*.
Alastair Cook - 33 (161).
Kevin Pietersen - 23 (104).
- ROOT, THE GOAT FROM ENGLAND. 🐐 pic.twitter.com/MshwfyNi2e
The right-handed batter also broke the record for most Test runs on English soil. Also, Root is fast approaching the Sachin Tendulkar milestone of most runs in red-ball cricket with 12330 runs. Tendulkar has 15921 runs to his name, and the gap between the two is around 3500 runs. Root is aged 33 and considering the amount of the Test fixtures to be played in the upcoming years he might surpass Sachin.
