New Delhi: Senior England batter Joe Root shattered multiple records by notching up his 34th Test century in the ongoing 2nd Test against Sri Lanka at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground in London on Saturday. After smashing a brilliant knock of 143 runs in England’s first innings of the Test match, Root followed it up with a 103-run knock in the 2nd innings to notch up a century apiece in both innings.
With his 103-run knock, Root broke former England captain Alastair Cook’s record for Test tons by an England batter. He also became only the 4th batter in the world to slam centuries in both innings of a Test match at Lord’s. The senior England batter has been enjoying a stellar run with the willow in Test cricket and has been on a record-breaking spree.
With the help of his twin centuries in the Lord’s Test against Sri Lanka, Root also became only the second active batter after Team India star Virat Kohli to achieve a historic feat. His 103-run knock in the 2nd innings was Root’s 50th century in international cricket as he emulated Kohli by becoming only the 2nd batter among active players to reach the elusive milestone of 50 hundreds across formats.
Kohli leads the elite list of active batters with the most hundreds in international cricket with 80 centuries to his name. He has 5o tons in ODIs, 29 in Tests and 1 in T20Is. Root, on the other hand, has 34 centuries in Tests and 16 in ODIs. Kohli and Root remain the only active batters with 50 centuries to their name in international cricket.
Active players with most centuries in international cricket:
80 – Virat Kohli
50 – Joe Root
48 – Rohit Sharma
45 – Kane Williamson
44 – Steve Smith
Thanks to Root’s magnificent ton in the 2nd innings, England posted 251 runs on the board to set Sri Lanka a daunting target of 483 runs in their second innings. Earlier England bundled out the visitors for a paltry 196 runs in their first innings after setting up a total of 427 runs in their first innings.
Apart from Root, who slammed a stupendous knock of 143 runs, England pacer Gut Atkinson scripted history by scoring his maiden Test ton at Lord’s. Atkinson hammered a sensational knock of 118 runs off 115 balls to become one of the fastest Test centurions at the iconic venue. He also became the first England player to score a Test ton at number 8 against Sri Lanka.
England star Joe Root became only the second batter after Virat Kohli to achieve an elusive feat after smashing his 34th Test ton in the Lord’s Test against Sri Lanka on Saturday. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
