England star Joe Root added another feather to his ever-growing record cap in the third and final Test of the series against New Zealand at Seddon Park, Hamilton. Root, who is on a run-scoring spree in recent years, hit another fifty-plus score in the second innings for England during their mountainous run-chase of 658. While England suffered a proper hammering of 423 runs, Root has created yet another record.
The England Talisman has shattered the record of Pakistan legend Javed Miandad for hitting most Test runs against New Zealand. He needed 49 runs in the second innings to create own the record and has now done it with age still behind him. Root has made 1925 runs against the Kiwis in 40 innings, which is six more than what Miandad had in 29 outings.
Most runs against New Zealand in Test cricket:
1 - Joe Root: 1925 runs in 40 innings at an average of 53.47
2 - Javed Miandad: 1919 runs in 29 innings at an average of 79.95
3 - Rahul Dravid: 1659 runs in 28 innings at an average of 63.80
4 - Sachin Tendulkar: 1595 runs in 39 innings at an average of 46.91
5 - Jacques Kallis: 1543 runs in 28 innings at an average of 61.72
Root's fifty-plus score was never going to trouble the hosts New Zealand as they had already outplayed the visitors in the first innings. The Kiwis had scored 347 in the first innings and had bowled the Three Lions out for just 143 with Matt Henry, William ORourke and Mitchell Santner accounting for all the 10 wickets.
The Blackcaps posted a mammoth score of 453 in the second innings on the back of a sensational 156 from Kane Williamson and some strong contributions from Daryl Mitchell and Mitchell Santner, both of who made 60 and 49, respectively.
Santner, who picked three wickets in the first innings, picked four in the second with his majority of strikes being of the lower-middle order batters barring the big scalp of Root. Matt Henry and the retiring Tim Southee picked two wickets each to bowl England out for 234.
The 423-run win is New Zealand's joint biggest in the format in terms of runs, matching the margin of their victory over Sri Lanka in Christchurch in December 2018. They won the final Test but lost the series 1-2 to England as the visitors humbled them in the previous two games.