Joe Root registers historic feat, joins Ricky Ponting, Sachin Tendulkar and Jacques Kallis on elite list
Joe Root has become a run machine in red-ball cricket. The former England captain is already the leading run-getter in Test cricket among active players. He is closing in on Sachin Tendulkar on the list of leading run-getters in Test cricket.
Joe Root has added his name to yet another remarkable list of players in Test cricket with an unbeaten 73 off 106 balls on day two of the ongoing second Test between New Zealand and England. Root has become the first player from England to register a hundred fifty-plus scores in Test cricket.
Notably, Root is only the fourth player in the history of red-ball international cricket to score a hundred fifty-plus scores. Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis and Sachin Tendulkar are the other three players who have achieved the feat in Test cricket.
Most fifty-plus scores in Test cricket
| Player | 50+ scores |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 119 |
| Jacques Kallis | 103 |
| Ricky Ponting | 103 |
| Joe Root | 100 |
| Rahul Dravid | 99 |
Root left India's former captain and coach Rahul Dravid behind to reach the milestone of hundred fifty-plus scores in Test cricket. The former England captain is also close to his 36th century in the longest format of the game. He needs to score 27 more runs to reach the three-figure mark.
Meanwhile, England are on the top of New Zealand in the second Test at Basin Reserve in Wellington. The Three Lions are 378 for the loss of five wickets and lead the Blackcaps by 533 runs. There are still three more days left in the game.
New Zealand Playing XI:
Tom Latham (c), Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell (wk), Glenn Phillips, Nathan Smith, Matt Henry, Tim Southee, William ORourke
Bench: Mitchell Santner, Jacob Duffy, Will Young
Support Staff: Gary Stead, Luke Ronchi, Shane Jurgensen
England Playing XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ollie Pope (wk), Ben Stokes (c), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Shoaib Bashir
Bench: Rehan Ahmed, Oliver Robinson, Matthew Potts, Jack Leach, Olly Stone
Support Staff: Paul Collingwood, Jeetan Patel, Neil Killeen, Brendon McCullum, Marcus Trescothick