Joe Root continued to ascend the Test mountain as he got on level with former India captain and erstwhile head coach Rahul Dravid, completing his 36th Test century as England took a pole position in the second and decisive game against New Zealand in Wellington. Root, who unusually had a lean period scoring just 113 runs in his last six innings, following his masterful 262 in Multan against Pakistan, breached the three-figure mark to get to joint-fifth position on the list of batters with most Test centuries.
Most centuries in Test cricket
51 – Sachin Tendulkar (India) in 329 innings (200 matches)
45 – Jacques Kallis (South Africa) in 280 innings (166 matches)
41 – Ricky Ponting (Australia) in 287 innings (168 matches)
38 – Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) in 233 innings (134 matches)
36 – Joe Root (England) in 276 innings (151 matches)
36 – Rahul Dravid (India) in 286 innings (164 matches)
This was Root’s sixth Test ton in 2024, the most by any batter this year. Six is also Root’s joint-highest century aggregate for a year or for any English player as he equalled the likes of Denis Compton, Michael Vaughan and Jonny Bairstow and achieved the feat for the second time in his career after half a dozen Test hundreds in 2021 too.
Root unsurprisingly got to his century with a bizarre reverse ramp shot that went over the wicketkeeper Tom Blundell for a boundary behind. The commentators too were taken aback, however, both Root and his successor Ben Stokes had their arms aloft as the highest run-getter for England in Tests got to another hundred.
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Root did get out on 106 off William O’Rourke but not before stitching a century stand with skipper Stokes, who remained unbeaten on 49 before declaring the innings at 427/6. England set New Zealand a massive target of 583, which realistically looked like a bridge too far even though New Zealand will surely give it a go.
A win in Wellington will make England the first winners of the newly introduced Crowe-Thorpe trophy with the team 1-0 ahead already, in the three-match series.
