English cricket has a new history-maker and his name is Joe Root. On Thursday, August 20, England captain Joe Root equalled Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar’s world record for the most fifties in Test cricket. He scored 66 runs from 112 balls against Pakistan in the second innings of the first Test at Headingley. This was his 68th half-century in Test cricket.
Joe Root came out to bat at a tricky time when England were struggling at 48 for 2 wickets. Pakistan had scored 171 in their first innings and England were trying to chase it down. Joe Root then steadied the innings with Jordon Cox. Together, they added 150 runs in 204 balls and helped England take the lead.
Joe Root’s batting was a treat to watch. He showed great timing and control and hit 10 fours in his innings. He waited for bad balls and punished them, hitting beautiful drives and cuts against bowlers Mohammad Ali and Khurram Shahzad. When the fast bowlers were bowling well, he handled them smartly and kept scoring runs with his famous glide shots towards third man.
His good innings finally ended when he was given LBW by Khurram Shahzad. He tried to hit an incoming ball towards midwicket but the ball beat his bat and hit him on the knee roll. He took a review but ball-tracking showed three reds, so he had to go back. His knock had already put England in a very strong position.
What makes this record even more special is that Joe Root achieved this in 33 fewer matches than Sachin Tendulkar. This record shows how many fifties he used to score in the first half of his career. Later, he made big technical and mental changes to convert those fifties into hundreds, which is now visible in his centuries count.
And Joe Root is not done yet. He will get more chances to create history in this same Test match. He is now just 13 runs away from breaking Ricky Ponting’s record for the most runs scored in home Tests.
Well played Joe Root!
