England defeated New Zealand by five wickets in the series opener at Lord’s, with Joe Root scoring a match-winning century in his first Test after stepping down as captain. In the first session of Day 4, Root hit an unbeaten 115 off 170 deliveries as England chased down a tough 277-run mark. The hosts have grabbed a 1-0 lead in the three-match series with this victory. When Root arrived in the middle, England was two down and only had 32 points on the board.
A 90-run stand between Root and new England captain Ben Stokes, on the other hand, helped England get their house in order. Before being caught behind by Kyle Jamieson on 54, Stokes completed his half-century (110). Root and wicketkeeper-batsman Ben Foakes then put up another 120-run stand, with the latter scoring 32 runs. Former Australia captain Mark Taylor backed Root to overtake Sachin Tendulkar as Test cricket’s highest run-scorer, even though the England batter is still about 6,000 runs short of the Indian legend’s total.
Root became the 14th batsman in Test history to reach 10,000 runs. Tendulkar, cricket’s most prolific international run-scorer, with a total of 15,921 runs in the game’s longest format. “Root has at least five years remaining in him,” Taylor told Sky Sports, “therefore I believe Tendulkar’s record is extremely feasible.” “Root is hitting the best he’s ever batted in the last 18 months to two years.” “He’s in the prime of his career, so if he stays healthy, he may hit 15,000 runs or more.” Root, who stepped down as England captain this year, joined former teammate Alastair Cook as the second England player to surpass the 10,000-test mark. Joe Root equaled Alastair Cook’s record of becoming the youngest player to score 10,000 Test runs with a stunning century.
Source- Hindustantimes
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Image Source- cricket.com.au
