Captain Joe Root reached another special milestone as he scored his second century in succession to keep England afloat on day three of the second and final Test against Sri Lanka in Galle. Root went past former skipper Kevin Pietersen on the list of top run-getters for England on Sunday.
Root surpassed the tally of former England captain Kevin Pietersen, who aggregated 8,181 Test runs in his career. Root followed up his 228 in the first match with the 19th Test century, the first time he has reached three figures in consecutive tests in his career.
Having walked in to bat with England at seven runs for two wickets, Root had raced to 67 on day two as England reached 98 for two at stumps on Saturday. But on day three, Root was more cautious with the wicket offering plenty of turn and bounce for the Sri Lankan bowlers.
Root also became only the 12th batsman to register a century while appearing in his career’s 99th Test match. Root smashed his 19th Test century, equaling the tally amassed by former England legend Leonard Hutton. Notably, this was Root’s eighth Test century away from home and a third in Sri Lanka.
Former England captain Alastair Cook is the all-time highest run-getter for England with 12,472 Test runs against his name. He is followed by Graham Gooch, who has 8,900 runs. Alec Stewart (8,463), David Gower (8,231) are the others ahead of Root.
Root failed to score a Test century in 2020, the first time in his career he went a calendar year without a ton, and his return to form will be welcome as England head into four tests in India right after this series.
