Joe Root etched his name in cricket history by setting a new England record with his 34th Test century during the second Test against Sri Lanka at Lord’s.
Root’s remarkable achievement came when he reached three figures for the second time in the match, following up his first-innings score of 143 with a century on the third day. Root, who had equaled the previous England record of 33 hundreds held by the legendary Alastair Cook in the first innings, surpassed his predecessor when he cut Lahiru Kumara for his 10th four after facing 111 balls. With the mark coming from 111 balls, it was also Root’s fastest Test century.
This milestone came in Root’s 145th Test, compared to Cook’s 161-match career, highlighting Root’s incredible consistency and skill.
In addition to breaking Cook’s record, Root’s seventh Test hundred at Lord’s gave him sole possession of the most Test centuries at the iconic venue, surpassing England greats Graham Gooch and Michael Vaughan, who each had six centuries at the ‘Home of Cricket.’
Root also joined an elite group of cricketers who have scored centuries in both innings of a Test at Lord’s, becoming the fourth to do so after West Indies’ George Headley, Gooch, and Vaughan. While Gooch’s combined tally of 456 runs against India at Lord’s in 1990 remains the highest by any batsman in a single Test, Root’s latest century solidified his status as one of England’s greatest batsmen.
Root’s 34th Test century also moved him into joint-sixth place on the all-time list of Test century-makers, a prestigious group led by India’s Sachin Tendulkar, who holds the record with 51 hundreds in 200 Tests. At 33 years old, Root is the only active player among these elite cricketers, further underlining his ongoing contribution to the game.