Joe Root sets new England record of 34 Test hundreds

NEW DELHI: Joe Root achieved a new milestone in English cricket history during the second Test against Sri Lanka at the iconic Lord's Cricket Ground. In the second innings, Root reached his 34th Test century, surpassing the previous record held by Alastair Cook, who had amassed 33 hundreds before retiring from international cricket.Root's century came on the third day of the match when he skillfully cut a delivery from Lahiru Kumara, registering his 10th boundary off 111 deliveries. This achievement was particularly significant as it came in Root's 145th Test match, while Cook had played 161 Tests to reach his tally of 33 centuries, AFP reported.Earlier in the match, Root had scored 143 runs in the first innings, equaling Cook's record. With his second century of the game, Root not only broke the record but also solidified his position as one of the most prolific batsmen in England's Test cricket history.Root’s seventh Test century at Lord's secured him the record for the most Test hundreds at the 'Home of Cricket,' surpassing the England duo of Graham Gooch and Michael Vaughan, who each had six.In doing so, Root became only the fourth batsman to score centuries in both innings of a Test at Lord's, joining West Indies legend George Headley (1939), Gooch (1990), and Vaughan (2004).Gooch's remarkable total of 456 runs against India at Lord’s in 1990, with innings of 333 and 123, remains the record for the highest aggregate by a single batsman in any Test match.Root’s latest hundred also elevated him to joint-sixth on the all-time list of Test century-makers, a ranking led by India’s Sachin Tendulkar, who scored 51 centuries in 200 Tests from 1989 to 2013.At 33, Root is the only active player among the top century-makers in Test cricket history.Most Test hundreds (number of hundreds, matches, player, team (s), span):51 200 Sachin Tendulkar IND 1989-201345 166 Jacques Kallis RSA 1995-201341 168 Ricky Ponting AUS 1995-201238 134 Kumar Sangakkara SRI 2000-201536 164 Rahul Dravid IND/ICC 1996-201234 118 Younis Khan PAK 2000-201734 125 Sunil Gavaskar IND 1971-198734 131 Brian Lara WIS/ICC 1990-200634 149 Mahela Jayawardene SRI 1997-201434 145 Joe Root ENG 2012 -33 161 Alastair Cook ENG 2006-2018Hundreds in both innings of a Test at Lord's (scores, player, team, opposition, year):106 and 107 George Headley WIS v ENG 1939333 and 123 Graham Gooch ENG v IND 1990103 and 101 no Michael Vaughan ENG v WIS 2004143 and 103 Joe Root ENG v SRI 2024