England star batter Joe Root finally ended his long century drought in Australia and brought up his first hundred Down Under during the first day of the second Ashes Test. He reached the milestone after facing 181 deliveries and proved to be kind of a lone warrior for the Three Lions as the wickets kept on falling at the other end.
Root joins multiple elite lists
With this century, Root became the first England batter since Maurice Leyland in 1936 to score a century on the opening day of the Brisbane Test. He also became only the eighth batter from the country to score a Test hundred at the venue. The 34-year-old had played 29 Test innings in Australia before, but had failed to reach triple figures. He is the English player to play the most innings before bringing up their maiden hundred Down Under.
Root had taken the crease after England had suffered from a horrific start to their innings. The visitors lost both Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope by the third over, getting restricted down to 5/2 at one stage. However, the duo of Zak Crawley and Root provided stability to the innings by forming a massive 117-run partnership.
Crawley's gritty innings
Crawley, who had recorded ducks in both the innings of the Ashes opener, went on to play a robust knock of 76 before being dismissed by Michael Neser. The wickets kept on falling for England at one end as the likes of Harry Brook (31), Ben Stokes (19), Jamie Smith (0) and Will Jacks (19) all ended up losing their wickets cheaply. However, Root kept on scoring runs from the other end and ensured that the team crossed the 250-run mark. Rather than scoring runs at a rapid pace, he ensured that the scoreboard kept ticking.
Root brought up his century with a boundary to Boland in the 66th over. This was a much-needed knock for the batter as he had come under a lot of scrutiny after his abysmal performance in the first Test. It remains to be seen how far will he manage to take England's total to as the first day of the Test reaches its conclusion.