England vs New Zealand: Joe Root enters elite club with match-winning ton at Lord's

Jun 6, 2022 - 10:14

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England vs New Zealand: Joe Root enters elite club with match-winning ton at Lord's

Joe Root entered an elite club in cricket on Sunday, becoming only the second Englishman after Alastair Cook to cross the 10,000-run barrier in the five-day format.

The former England captain achieved the milestone en route to an unbeaten 115, which setup a memorable five-wicket victory for England in the first Test against New Zealand that gave a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

Root, who recently relinquished English Test captaincy to all-rounder Ben Stokes following a poor run of results, was back at his best with the bat as he brought up his 26th Test century, holding England's chase together after New Zealand rattled their top order to reduce them to 69/4 at one stage.

Joe Root celebrates after completing his 26th career ton on Day 4 of the first Test against New Zealand at Lord's. AP

Root shared vital partnerships with Stokes (54) and wicketkeeper-batter Ben Foakes (32 not out) — worth 90 and 120 respectively as the hosts reached home rather comfortably, in contrast to the tricky position they found themselves in on Saturday afternoon.

Read: 'A mad, mad win', Twitter goes wild as Root seals memorable win for hosts at Lord's

Only 14 batters have scored 10,000 runs or more in Test cricket, with Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar being the first to cross this milestone and ultimately finishing with 10,125 runs to his name. Sachin Tendulkar currently is the all-time leading run-scorer with 15,921 runs to his name in 200 Test appearances at an average of 53.78.

Cook remains the all-time leading leading run-scorer among England batters, having collected 12,472 runs in 161 Tests at an average of 45.35.

Incidentally, both Cook and Root were 31 years and 157 days of age when they achieved the milestone.

Here are some of the reactions to Root's knock on Twitter:

Ten thousand test runs is a great accomplishment. Modern great. #JoeRoot
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) June 5, 2022

ROOOOOOOOOOT!! A very special innings from a very special cricketer #ENGvNZ pic.twitter.com/FW3CUTtocV — England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 5, 2022

Through all the trials and tribulations of the #Ashes Joe Root never lost his smile in Australia but it’s so good to see him smiling and laughing with England on the cusp of a famous win. Captain or not, good times or not, he’s stayed the same. Maybe his greatest legacy #ENGvNZ
— Bharat Sundaresan (@beastieboy07) June 5, 2022