England star Joe Root continued his Midas touch as he slammed his 41st Test century during the fifth Ashes Test in Sydney. Root, who came into Australia without a single ton, has now hit two in the ongoing Ashes with the first coming in Brisbane earlier.
Root has turned out to be a major threat for Sachin Tendulkar’s world record of most Test runs. He is already the second-highest run-scorer in the longest format and is now chasing Tendulkar’s world record.
Coming into the fifth Test, Root had 13777 runs to his name with Tendulkar on top with 15921 runs. He was 2144 runs behind the Master Blaster but the England master has now reduced the gap considerably and brought it down under 2000 runs.
He needed 145 runs to take the gap between himself and Tendulkar to under 2000 runs and he has now done that during the second day of the fifth Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Root went on to slam his 17th 150-plus score in Test cricket and has gone past Mahela Jayawardene in the list for most 150-plus knocks in the format. He is now only behind Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Kumar Sangakkara and Don Bradman on the list.
Most 150-plus scores in Test cricket:
1 – Sachin Tendulkar: 20 scores of over 150 runs
2 – Brian Lara: 19 scores of over 150 runs
3 – Kumar Sangakkara: 19 scores of over 150 runs
4 – Don Bradman: 18 scores of over 150 runs
5 – Joe Root: 17 scores of over 150 runs
Root played a brilliant knock laced with 15 fours. His innings came to an end on 160 when he chipped one back to the bowler, Michael Neser. Root walked off with a standing ovation from the fans at the SCG. Meanwhile, England were bowled out for 384 with Neser removing the final man, Josh Tongue.
Root’s 160 means that he is now not much far behind Tendulkar on the list of most Test runs. He now has 13937 runs in 297 Test innings and is 1984 runs behind Tendulkar.
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