The morning of Thursday October 9 was a record-breaking one for England batsman Joe Root. The 33-year-old surpassed a string of cricketing legends in yet another list as he became the first batsman in World Test Championship (WTC) history to score 5,000 runs. Root was referring to his 35th Test century, putting him past India legend Sunil Gavaskar, Pakistan stalwart Younis Khan, Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene and West Indies icon Brian Lara.
Root’s 35th Test hundred now moves him to sixth place for most centuries in Test cricket. He traced Sachin Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis, Ricky Ponting, Kumar Sangakkara and Rahul Dravid in the list. Root reached the milestone in his 147th Test match, scoring over 12,000 Test runs.
With Pakistan posted a massive 556 in the first innings, Root scored a hundred along with significant contributions from the rest of England’s batting to chase down Pakistan’s total. Root reached his century off 167 balls and continued his rich form in 2024.
Root also became the first batsman this year to pass 1,000 Test runs in 2024 during his knock.
Pakistan vs England, 1st Test: As usual
Root’s 150 was well supported by his teammates. Harry Brook scored a century off just 118 balls and, despite Pakistan’s total of 556 balls, England looked well-equipped to take a first-innings lead.
Zak Crawley hit 78 to set the base, while usual opener Ben Duckett came in at number 4 and hit 84 off just 75 balls.
England’s excellent scoring pace meant that none of Pakistan’s bowlers had an economy rate below 5. Only Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah and Aamer Jamal managed a wicket each.
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