Joe Root breaks Ben Stokes' record to script history after match-winning 53 in 5-wicket victory over India in 1st Test

Joe Root played a key role in England's stunning win over India in the first Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. His crucial fifty helped England secure a five-wicket win over India, giving them a 1-0 advantage in the five-match series, and simultaneously marked his name in cricket history.

Continuing his excellent form, Joe Root followed up a rare first-innings failure with a crucial half-century in the second innings. The 34-year-old remained not out on 53, guiding the hosts to a successful chase of 371 runs. This remarkable feat marks England's second-highest ever run chase in Test history and also stands as the second-largest total successfully pursued against India in the fourth innings of a Test match.

With this Joe Root scripted a historic record in the fourth innings of Test matches, surpassing his own captain Ben Stokes' previous world record. Root now holds the record of having the most 50-plus scores in the World Test Championship (WTC) during run-chases. This latest half-century marks the seventh instance where the celebrated English cricketer has reached this landmark in the fourth innings of a WTC match, comprising two centuries and five half-centuries.

Batters with most 50-plus scores in WTC (fourth Innings):

Not just this, Root currently holds the record for the most runs scored by any batsman in the fourth innings of the WTC. He is also on the verge of achieving another milestone, needing just 14 more runs to become the first player to reach the 1000-run mark in this context. This latest half-century was Root's twelfth 50+ score while chasing in Test matches, placing him joint-second in this category alongside the legendary Sunil Gavaskar. Only Graeme Smith, Chris Gayle, and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, with 13 such scores each, are ahead of him.

Moreover, Root boasts an impressive tally of 962 runs in the fourth innings of Test matches played in England. This is the highest number of runs scored by any player in the fourth innings within a single country, and he is poised to become the first to reach the 1000-run milestone in this category as well. Adding to his consistent performances, Root has also become the first player in World Test Championship history to register 40 or more runs in the most innings. With 40 such scores, he comfortably leads the list, followed by Marnus Labuschagne (33) and Steve Smith (31), who are the only other players to have surpassed 30+ scores since the tournament's inception in 2019.