Ashes: Joe Root equals Ricky Ponting with 41st Test ton
What's the story
Joe Root, the England batting talisman, has equaled Australian legend Ricky Ponting's record of 41 Test centuries. The achievement came on Day 2 of the ongoing fifth and final Ashes Test at Sydney Cricket Ground. This was his second hundred of the series, which took the Brits past 300 while batting first. Root, who resumed the day at an overnight score of 72*, continued the good work. Here we look at his stats.
Milestone
Root's journey to his 41st Test century
Batting first in the contest, England were reeling at 57/3 when Root and Harry Brook (84) steadied the ship and helped England finish Day 1 at 211/3. The duo added 169 runs in partnership before Brook departed. Root took England forward with a further 94-run stand with Jamie Smith (46). Root, who took 146 balls to complete his century, went on to play a 160-run knock before being dismissed by Michael Neser. England hence posted 384/10 batting first.
Record
Root only behind these names
The record for most tons in Test cricket is held by Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar, who scored 51 centuries. He is followed by South Africa's Jacques Kallis with 45 hundreds. Root and Ponting now share the third place with 41 tons each. Despite not scoring a single century in his previous Ashes tours of Australia, Root has now scored two in five matches during the ongoing series. Only Australia's Travis Head has multiple tons in the ongoing series (2).
Career
Over 13,900 runs in the format
Root's 160 off 242 balls was laced with 15 fours. Playing his 163rd Test, Root has completed 13,937 runs in the format while averaging 51.23. Only Tendulkar (15,921) has more runs in Tests. Meanwhile, Root has also tallied 66 fifties. 2,822 of his runs have come in the Ashes at 41.50 (100s: 6, 50s: 18). On Australian soil, he has tallied 1,286 Ashes runs at 38.96 (100s: 2, 50s: 9).
Information
17th score of 150-plus in Tests
Root now has 17 scores of 150 or more in Test cricket. Only Tendulkar (20), West Indies's Brian Lara (19), Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara (19), and Australia's Don Bradman (18) are ahead of him on the list. Root also owns six double-hundreds in the format.