Joe Root slams his first Test hundred in Australia in Gabba
Root is currently batting on 135 not out
England are 325/9 at stumps on Day 1 of 2nd Ashes Test
Joe Root finally conquers the final frontier as he smashed his 1st Test century on Australian shores on Day 1 of the 2nd Ashes Test. It took him 16 matches and 30 innings to achieve this milestone but he finally did it with a masterclass 135* in a pink-ball Test at the Gabba. Watch the historic moment as it happened:
One More Step Closer To Top
Joe Root now has 40 hundreds under his name, putting him at the 4th spot in the elite list of Test cricketers with the most centuries. The only Test batters who are now ahead of Root are Ricky Ponting (41), Jacques Kallis (45) and Sachin Tendulkar (51).
Mitchell Starc created early jitters in the English camp by scalping two early wickets and left England reeling at 5/2 at the start. But Root, along with Zak Crawley (76), stitched a 117-run partnership for the 3rd wicket and got his team out of trouble. However, he came to own and played freely towards the end of the day when he forged a 61-run ongoing stand with Jofra Archer (32*), taking England to 325/9 by the end of day's play.
Big Relief For Matthew Hayden
Root's majestic hundred is a big relief for not only himself and the English fans but also for Matthew Hayden. The legendary former Aussie opener previously made a bold promise that he will walk naked around MCG, if Joe Root fails to score a century in this Aussie summer.
Despite being a former Aussie player, Hayden was rooting for Root's maiden hundred in this Ashes. When Root finally reached this milestone, Hayden was one of the few Australians who seems ecstatic on his achievement. He even took to social media to congratulate him.
"Congratulations mate on a hundred here in Australia. Took you a while and there was no one that had more skin in the game than me, literally. I was backing you for a hundred in a good way. So congratulations, ten fifties and finally a hundred. You little ripper mate. Have a beauty and bloody enjoy it," said Hayden in a social media video posted by England Cricket.
