Joe Root becomes first England player to complete 100 fifty-plus scores in Tests
Dec 07, 2024
Wellington [New Zealand], December 7 : Star batter Joe Root made history on Saturday as he became the first player from England and overall only fourth to touch the landmark of 100 or more fifty-plus scores in Test cricket.
Root accomplished this milestone against New Zealand during the second Test at Wellington.
After a failure in the first innings, Root ended the second day with 73* in 106 balls, with five fours.
This is his 100th fifty-plus score in Tests, which also includes 35 centuries besides 65 fifties.
Sachin Tendulkar (119) has most fifty-plus scores in Tests, which also includes 51 centuries. He is followed by South Africa's Jacques Kallis (103, with 45 centuries) and Ricky Ponting (103, with 41 centuries).
Coming to the match, England was put to bat first by Latham and was reduced to 43/4 and Crawley was dismissed for 17 in 23 balls. A counter-attacking century from Harry Brook (123 in 115 balls, with 11 fours and five sixes) and a fine half-century from Ollie Pope (66 in 78 balls, with seven fours and a six) took England to 280/10 in 54.4 overs. Brook and Pope put up a 174 run partnership for the fifth wicket.
Nathan Smith (4/86) was the pick of the bowlers for Kiwis, while Will O'Rourke also took 3/49. Matt Henry also got two wickets.
In their first innings, Kiwis could muster only 125 runs as four-fers from Atkinson (4/31) and Brydon Carse (4/46) totally demolished NZ. Kane Williamson (37 in 56 balls, with three fours) was the only player to touch the 20-run mark. They trailed by 155 runs.
Now, England has taken a massive 533 run lead, scoring 378/5 at the end of second day. Half-centuries came from Ben Duckett (92 in 112 balls, with six fours and a six), Jacob Bethell (96 in 118 balls, with 10 fours and three sixes), Harry Brook (55 in 61 balls with five fours) and Joe Root. (73* in 106 balls, with five fours).
