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Joe Root scored his 26th Test ton to take England over the finish line against New Zealand in the first Test at Lord’s on Sunday.
Seeing his team in trouble at 69/4 in their chase of 277, Root first added a 90-run stand with newly-appointed England skipper Ben Stokes and then added 120 runs with Ben Foakes to guide the hosts to a five-wicket win. Former Indian cricketers VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly and ex-England skipper Michael Vaughan hailed Root for his match-winning century on Day 4 in a pressure chase.
Brief scores: New Zealand 132 (Colin de Grandhomme 42 not-out; James Anderson 4-66) & 285 (Daryl Mitchell 108; Matty Potts 3-55) lost to England 141 (Zak Crawley 43; Tim Southee 4-55) & 279-5 (Joe Root 115 not out; Kyle Jamieson 4-79) by 5 wickets.
Here’s how Twitter reacted:
No better feeling than a match-winning 100 in a pressure run chase. Many congratulations to @root66 on an incredible 100 and on reaching 10000 Test runs, massive achievement. #ENGvNZ pic.twitter.com/1mvfdwrtyv
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) June 5, 2022
Englands most complete all round Batter of all time .. 10000 runs & to do it with a match winning 100 is incredible .. Well done @root66 #Lords
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) June 5, 2022
Joe Roooooooot ..what a player what a knock under pressure ..an all time great ..@bcci @icc
— Sourav Ganguly (@SGanguly99) June 5, 2022
Amazing to think this was Joe Root’s first 4th innings ton. Second Englishman to cross 10000 Test runs and equal youngest ever with Sir Alistair Cook at 31yrs and 157 days. Job done for England – well played 👏👏#ENGvsNZ
— Isa Guha (@isaguha) June 5, 2022
Root’s got another Test century, a fabulous one to win the match this time. He’a also gone past 10000 runs. I’m inclined to believe he’s England’s best batsman ever having scored runs everywhere.
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) June 5, 2022
ROOOOOT! Unbelievable 👏🏼
— Sam Billings (@sambillings) June 5, 2022
Congratulations to both @benstokes38 and @Bazmccullum on a winning start. Exciting times ahead for England! NZ did well to stay in the game after being 132 all out. But they will rue that no ball from de Grandhomme. Probably the final turning point of an exciting Test. #ENGvNZ
— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) June 5, 2022
Cracking start for @benstokes38. Life after Joe Root begins with a win inspired by Joe Root.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) June 5, 2022
A special Test hundred while chasing & 10000 Test runs: terrific effort from Joe Root. What a special cricketer! Fantastic career. He's only 31
— Sarang Bhalerao (@bhaleraosarang) June 5, 2022
WHAT A MAN!! 🦁🦁🦁
A huge win to start the summer!
🏴 #ENGvNZ 🇳🇿 pic.twitter.com/LYe4AJUn50
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 5, 2022
BOOM!! Tremendous win by @englandcricket – thanks to superb batting by @root66 & Foakes. Congrats to @benstokes38 on a brilliant start to his captaincy. 👏👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/D9Q5Xz6KGr
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) June 5, 2022
What a super match winning innings by #JoeRoot 👏 Did NZ miss trick by playing Spinner Patel on this pitch who bowled just 2 overs in the game? . #ENGvsNZ #NzvsEng #CticketTwitter
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) June 5, 2022
Joe Root is the first batter in Test history to reach 10,000 runs milestone in less than 10 years. #EngvNZ
— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) June 5, 2022
10,000 Test Runs ✅
Another spot on the Honours Boards ✅Congratulations, @root66 👏#LoveLords | #ENGvNZ pic.twitter.com/mhYElQb1uB
— Lord's Cricket Ground (@HomeOfCricket) June 5, 2022
Joe Root has 10,000 Test runs. And he's just 31 🤯 Well played and congratulations @root66 👏🏽 #ENGvNZ pic.twitter.com/l5dDL5v7Iz
— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) June 5, 2022