Joe Root hits 34th Test ton, surpasses Alastair Cook in record books

Joe Root made history on Saturday by surpassing Sir Alastair Cook to achieve the feat of hitting the most Test centuries for England. On the third day of the match against Sri Lanka, Root secured his 34th Test ton, setting a new record. Previously, Root had equaled Cook’s record of 33 red-ball centuries on Thursday, scoring a brilliant 143 off 206 balls in the first innings against the visitors. In England’s second innings against Sri Lanka, Root reached the 100-run mark in just 111 deliveries, marking his fastest century in the longest format of the game.

Records galore for Joe Root at Lord's against Sri Lanka

While Root achieved the feat of hitting the most centuries for England, it was a first for the batter to hit centuries in both innings of a test match. As Root scored his 34th test ton, the 33-year-old batter shot into the record books, trumping multiple records. Joe Root is now registered as the first English batter to hit 50 centuries in international cricket. The batter has now accumulated 34 test hundreds along with 16 tons in ODIs.

Moreover, Root is now positioned in the sixth place on the all-time list of Test century-makers, sharing this position with cricket legends such as Sunil Gavaskar, Brian Lara, Younis Khan, and Mahela Jayawardene. With his latest century, Root also became the leading run-scorer in Test matches at Lord’s, edging past the 2025 runs mark set by the legendary Graham Gooch. His second century in the match also made him the first player to hit seven Test centuries at the Mecca of Cricket.

17 tons from 2012 to 2020.
17 tons since the start of 2021.

Joe Root, there are no words 🤯 pic.twitter.com/8AQzpfk0FL

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) August 31, 2024

England added 92 runs for the loss of six wickets during the session, with Root contributing significantly and remaining unbeaten on 45 at lunch. The 33-year-old quickly reached his fifty on the third afternoon and built important partnerships with the lower-order batters bringing England close to a 500-run lead. Sri Lanka's Prabath Jayasuriya started the session for his team by dismissing Jamie Smith in the second over after lunch. 

However, the left-arm spinner struggled against Root, who scored three boundaries off one of Jayasuriya’s overs.The lower end of the English lineup didn’t prove reliable enough as the first inning centurion, Gus Atkinson also departed cheaply. Chris Woakes was dismissed for 5, caught at short cover off the bowling of Milan Rathnayake. Gus Atkinson was dismissed after top-edging a reverse-pull off Asitha Fernando.

Matthew Potts also didn’t last long, nicking one down the leg side and being dismissed following a successful review by Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, Root cleverly accumulated runs and reached his milestone century with a stylish drive through the covers. England's innings ended with Root getting caught off a short ball in the deep. However, Root has already placed England in a strong position to secure a 2-0 series lead.