England veteran Joe Root smashed a record-shattering century in the first innings of the second Test match against Sri Lanka at Lord's on Thursday. Root registered his 33rd Test century to equal Alastair Cook's record for most Test hundreds for England.
The 33-year-old Root continued his brilliant run of form with his 49th international century. He surpassed Indian captain Rohit Sharma in the list of elite players with the most international hundreds. The English star is now only behind India's Virat Kohli who dominates the chart with 80 international centuries.
Root also went past Steve Smith and Kane Williamson's 32 Test hundreds tally to boast the -most hundreds in Tests among active cricketers. In overall Test centuries record, Root currently finds himself in the tenth position.
Most Test hundreds among active cricketers
- Joe Root - 33 centuries in 264 innings
- Kane Williamson - 32 centuries in 176 innings
- Steve Smith - 32 centuries in 195 innings
- Virat Kohli - 29 centuries in 191 innings
- Cheteshwar Pujara - 19 centuries in 171 innings
Most international hundreds among active cricketers
- Virat Kohli - 80 centuries in 591 innings
- Joe Root - 49 centuries in 453 innings
- Rohit Sharma - 48 centuries in 509 innings
- Kane Williamson - 45 centuries in 423 innings
- Steve Smith - 44 centuries in 392 innings
Meanwhile, Root also equalled England greats Michael Vaughan and Graham Gooch's record for the six most Test centuries at the iconic Lord's. Root's current form has led many to predict that he will break Sachin Tendulkar's record for the most Test runs - 15921.
Root took only 162 balls to register his century as England managed to add some quick runs in the third session of Day 1 at Lord's. England kept losing wickets from one end but Root's unbeaten hundred (127* off 180 balls) helped them score a challenging total of 277/6 in 70 overs.
