#ThisDayThatYear: Alastair Cook reaches 10,000 Test runs
On this day in 2016, Alastair Cook became the first England player to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket. At 31 years and 157 days, he was the youngest to reach the landmark as England played Sri Lanka in the second Test at Chester-le-Street. The hosts won by nine wickets after having enforced follow-on on Sri Lanka. Here is how the match panned out.
Batting first, England racked up a mammoth 498/9 before declaring the innings. Alex Hales (83) and Joe Root (80) starred in the top order, while Moeen Ali (155) struck a blistering ton. The visitors were bundled out for 101 as James Anderson and Stuart Board rattled the line-up. The duo shared seven wickets. Sri Lanka were handed a follow-on, having trailed by 397 runs.
Despite getting outplayed, Sri Lanka staged a comeback in the following innings. The lower middle order bolstered the Sri Lankan innings. Dinesh Chandimal hammered a ton with skipper Angelo Mathews contributing 80. Veteran off-spinner Rangana Herath too scored 61 towards the end. Sri Lanka gave England a target of 79, which was chased down easily by the hosts.
Cook scored 47 runs in England's nominal run-chase. After getting dismissed for 15 in the first innings, the southpaw made the most of the following one by reaching the milestone. Cook became the 12th batsman to have tallied 10,000 Test runs. At 31 years and 157 days, he was the youngest player to do so. The previous record holder was Sachin Tendulkar (31y, 326d).
Nearly two years after his retirement, Alastair Cook still remains the only England cricketer with 10,000 Test runs. Test skipper Joe Root is the closest among active cricketers with 7,599 runs. Overall, Cook finished with 12,472 runs from 161 Tests at 45.35.
