England vs New Zealand 2nd Test: Root surpasses Gavaskar, hits another century
Former England captain Joe Root continued his golden run with the bat with another century on the third day of the second Test between England and New Zealand at Trent Bridge in Nottingham on Sunday (June 12). Root remained unbeaten on 163 off 200 balls and the hosts finished on 473/5 on the third day, still 80 runs behind the Kiwis after Olly Pope’s 145.
A week after becoming the joint youngest batsman to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket, Root achieved another milestone and is now ahead of Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar in the list of highest run-scorers in Test cricket. Huh. The former England captain was 107 runs short of equalizing Gavaskar before the start of the ongoing second Test.
Root continued his purple patch and crossed the 100-run mark in the first innings. As he scored his 108th run, Root became the 12th highest run-scorer in Test cricket. Social media was flooded with wishes for the route as soon as it reached this stage.
Root scored his fastest Test century, while Ollie Pope scored a superb 145 as England began a spirited battle to reach 473-5 at the end of the game on the third day of the second Test. Resuming 90-1 in the morning after the touring team posted a mammoth first innings total of 553, England excelled on a fine batting wicket at Trent Bridge when the stumps were drawn.
Root remained unbeaten on 163 and Ben Fox remained unbeaten on 24. Pope, out early in his innings on Saturday, looked in fine form for most of the day to complete his second Test century, as the hosts took New Zealand in on the fun with former captain Root, when Opener Alex Lees fell for 67.
“Wonderful. He is England’s greatest,” Pope told the BBC while discussing Root. It’s wonderful to see.”
Root reached an unbeaten 115 to guide England to a five-wicket win in the first Test, but quickly endured moments of panic and survived after shining a delivery from Tim Southee, which dropped him at slip. But the 31-year-old regained his composure to complete his half-century in 56 balls, before disappointing New Zealand struggling to take his team past the 300-run mark in the 75th over.
Joe Root
Younis Khan and Sunil Gavaskar were the top run scorers in Tests
Scored 100 runs in his 27th Test
Scored 150+ in 13th test
Recorded his highest Test score at Trent Bridge
Test average goes above 50 once again
Scored his runs at 80+ SR#ENGvsNZ pic.twitter.com/wWjWVl7qFy
— Arnav Singh (@Arnavv43) June 12, 2022
A reverse sweep from Michael Bracewell took Root to 97 for a four in two overs off Daryl Mitchell and the latter completed his 27th Test century and fourth at this location, coming off just 116 balls.
It was Root’s fourth century in the coming five Tests after reaching 10,000 runs in the format in the previous match, and a blow to the pads for four took him to 150 as he slammed New Zealand with a sword.
Earlier, it didn’t take much for Pope to score his century after lunch – his first since 2020 and first on home turf – as he cut Matt Henry for four and cheered loudly for two. To pushed them through the cover. Pope fell early in the final session as he top-edged Matt Henry off Trent Boult, who dismissed Jonny Bairstow for eight after a review showed he bowled the ball to the keeper, giving England a 344- left at 4.
Captain Ben Stokes’ blitz had troubled New Zealand, but he was trying to score more than one six, scoring 46, as Bracewell took a crucial first wicket on his debut. However, the Black Caps missed another opportunity when Will Young dropped the Foxes to 10.
(with Reuters inputs)