Joe Root Century: England’s star batsman Joe Root is in great form at the moment. In the ongoing second Test against Sri Lanka, he scored centuries in both the innings at the historic ground of Lord’s. With these centuries, he has made his place in a special club. After a long wait of 20 years, centuries have been scored in both the innings of a Test at this historic ground. The last time this feat was achieved was in 2004 by former England captain Michael Vaughan and now by doing so after 20 years, Joe Root has become the fourth batsman in the world to be included in this list.
Joe Root created history at Lord’s, made five records by scoring his 34th century
Former West Indies cricketer George Headley was the first to score centuries in both innings of a Test at Lord’s, which is called the ‘Mecca of Cricket’. He did this feat against the hosts in 1939.
51 years later, in 1990, Graham Gooch of England was able to repeat this feat against India. It is special for any player to score a century in both innings of a Test, but if it happens at Lord’s ground, it becomes even more special.
Root hit 34th Test century, became the batsman with most centuries; Cook remained behind
The third name in this list is former England captain Michael Vaughan, who scored back-to-back centuries in both innings against West Indies in 2004. Now Joe Root has become the fourth batsman to join this list by achieving this feat against Sri Lanka.
Players who have scored two centuries in a Test at Lord’s:
George Headley v England, 1939
Graham Gooch v India, 1990
Michael Vaughan vs West Indies, 2004
Joe Root vs Sri Lanka, 2024
Joe Root has become England’s leading Test century-scorer, surpassing former captain Alastair Cook (33).
On the back of Root’s century, the English team is in a strong position in the Lord’s Test. The hosts have set a target of 483 runs for Sri Lanka to win, in front of which the visiting team has lost two wickets at a score of 53 by the end of the third day. Sri Lanka is still 430 runs away from victory and they have 8 wickets left in hand.