Former England captain Joe Root dropped the anchor in the run chase against Sri Lanka and led the hosts to a five-wicket win on Day 5. Root scored a gritty 62 not out and did not let Sri Lankan bowlers sniff a victory at Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester. During his knock, Root achieved a few milestones as well. He rose to the third place in list of batters who have scored most half-centuries in Test cricket history.
This was Root's 64th Test fifty. He surpassed Australia's Allan Border and India's Rahul Dravid. The top spot is occupied by India's Sachin Tendulkar who has 68 half-centuries followed by West Indies' Shivnarine Chanderpaul with 66 fifties. With plenty of cricket action left in the season, Root is likely to dethrone the ‘Master Blaster’.
Other feats achieved by Root
Root broke the record for most fifty-plus scores at Manchester in Tests. This was his eighth such score. The previous record belonged to Ian Bell and Denis Compton with seven fifty-plus scores each at the venue.
The 33-year-old has another record in his sight. This was his 10th fifty-plus score in fourth innings for England. He is tied with Geoffrey Boycott. He is only behind Mike Atheron and Alastair Cook who have 11 fifty-plus scores in fourth innings.
Root expected to surpass Cook and Sangakkara
Recently, Root also became the second England batter to score 12,000 Test runs after Cook. He is expected to enter the list of top five run-scorers in the format. Root has 12,131 runs from 144 Tests at an average of 50.33 including 32 centuries and 64 fifties. The fifth spot belongs to Cook with 12,472 runs from 161 Tests at an average of 45.35 including 33 centuries and 57 fifties. He is followed by Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara who has 12,400 runs from 134 Tests at an average of 57.40 including 38 centuries and 52 fifties.
Root will be back in action as England take on Sri Lanka in the second Test starting August 29 at the Lord’s. More responsibility lies on his shoulder in the absence of captain Ben Stokes.
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