England skipper Joe Root continued from where he left in the first Test, smashing a remarkable century in the ongoing second Test at Lords Cricket Ground in London on Saturday.
The right-handed batsman reached the three-figure mark on the third ball of the 82nd over when he tapped a short of length delivery bowled by Jasprit Bumrah to point region for a single.
It was Root’s second century in the ongoing five-match series and 22nd ton of his glorious Test career. During the process, the Yorkshire batter went past legendary Graham Gooch and became only the second English player to reach the 9000-run benchmark.
Most Test runs for England:
- 12,472 – Alastair Cook
- 9013 – Joe Root*
- 8900 – Graham Gooch
Root is also the leading run-getter among the fab-four of modern cricket and the only currently active player to score 9000-plus runs in the longest format.
Most runs among fab-four in Test cricket:
- 9013* – Joe Root
- 7589 – Virat Kohli
- 7540 – Steve Smith
- 7230 – Kane Williamson
Here is how Twitter reacted to Joe Root’s masterclass:
The bowling hasn't been bad. It's just that Root has been better. Just a class act rising to the occasion this series. Well played @root66 👏🏻 #ENGvsIND pic.twitter.com/I8w2V1rOXj
— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) August 14, 2021
The best role model we have had .. @root66 is a delight .. hope all kids are trying to emulate the way he is & goes about his business .. #ENGvIND
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) August 14, 2021
Joe Root becomes the 16th batsman to score 9,000+ Test runs
Joining Tendulkar 🇮🇳, Ponting 🇦🇺, Kallis 🇿🇦, Dravid 🇮🇳, Cook 🏴, Sangakkara 🇱🇰, Lara 🏝️, Chanderpaul 🏝️, Jayawardene 🇱🇰, Border 🇦🇺, Steve Waugh 🇦🇺, Gavaskar 🇮🇳, Younis Khan 🇵🇰, Amla 🇿🇦 & Graeme Smith 🇿🇦#ENGvIND
— Fox Sports Lab (@FoxSportsLab) August 14, 2021
ROOOOOOT 🔥
— Sam Billings (@sambillings) August 14, 2021
Top class player.👏🏾#JoeRoot #ENGvsIND https://t.co/2fghS63Gr4
— Mpumelelo Mbangwa (@mmbangwa) August 14, 2021
Talk about a captain's knock 💪
Walking in at 23/2, Joe Root has put England in a good position with his second century of the series 💯#WTC23 | #ENGvIND | https://t.co/rhWT865o91 pic.twitter.com/8BjNU8xLFw
— ICC (@ICC) August 14, 2021
💯Great batsman, great innings. Century number 22 by Joe Root. Only two Englishmen now have more Test hundreds – Kevin Pietersen 23 and Alastair Cook 33. #EngvInd
— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) August 14, 2021
Joe Root is the first England player to score hundreds in successive innings in Tests since Ian Bell in Ashes 2013. In this period every other team, except Afg & Ire, had at least one batsman doing so.#ENGvIND
— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) August 14, 2021
When Root is playing well, you think of two words – Neat and tidy. His fifth Test ton of the yr.
The one encouraging sign for India is the new ball is swinging a bit. A little more nip and bounce.
Gaps in the cordon don't exactly help.
— Bharath Ramaraj (@Fancricket12) August 14, 2021
Wow Joe Root. Another century. What a batsman. Well played lad. #ENGvIND
— Chloe-Amanda Bailey (@ChloeAmandaB) August 14, 2021
Top quality hundred by Joe Root
— Sarang Bhalerao (@bhaleraosarang) August 14, 2021
What an effort from @root66 exceptional innings from an exceptional player.
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) August 14, 2021
6 Test 50s for Joe Root this year; he's converted 5 of them into 100s.
They say the England Test captaincy eventually wears down your batting – it's certainly not happening for Root in the 5th year of his captaincy
— Tim Wigmore (@timwig) August 14, 2021
https://twitter.com/benjonescricket/status/1426533557191823367
Excellent ton. The best England batsman carrying them all by himself.
Played, Root.
— Nikhil 🏏 (@CricCrazyNIKS) August 14, 2021
Joe Root has 5 hundreds and 1 fifty from 19 innings at an average of 65 with 1170 runs in Test cricket in 2021.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) August 14, 2021
