England's in-form veteran batter Joe Root on December 8 scripted history at Basin Reserve, Wellington. In the second Test against New Zealand, Root scored his 36th Test hundred. He is now level with former India batter Rahul Dravid who has 36 Test centuries as well.
Root and Dravid are fifth on the list of batters with most Test centuries. The first spot is occupied by Sachin Tendulkar (51) followed by Jacques Kallis (45), Ricky Ponting (41) and Kumar Sangakkara (38).
Root completed his 36th Test hundred in his 151st Test. He is also now level with Dravid on the list of most Test centuries against New Zealand. This was his sixth Test hundred against the Kiwis. Apart from Root and Dravid, Kallis has six Test centuries against the BlackCaps as well. The top spot is occupied by Javed Miandad with seven Test centuries.
Root reaches hundred in style
Root had an overnight score of 73. England were piling on runs and setting a massive target for the hosts. Root looked to score quickly. The second new ball did not have an impact either. On the first ball of the 83rd over, Root played a reverse-scoop shot against William ORourke to hit the ball over the wicketkeeper and slips cordon for a boundary. He reached three figures from 127 balls.
Even after Root reached his century, skipper Ben Stokes who was at the other end chose not to declare the innings. He followed it up with a boundary. On the third ball, Root went for a drive and edged it to wicketkeeper Tom Blundell. The 33-year-old scored 106 runs from 130 balls featuring 11 fours.
England were 427/6 when they declared the innings. Stokes remained unbeaten for 49 off 42 balls as the tourists set a target of 583.
Another milestone awaits Root
Meanwhile, the Yorkshire-born batter also moved closer to the 13,000-run mark in Test cricket. He has 12,886 runs from 276 innings at an average of 50.93. This was also his 100th fifty-plus score in the format. With one more Test to go in the series, he has a chance to become fiffth batter to complete 13,000 Test runs.
