London [UK], August 29 : England batter Joe Root tied with compatriot Alastair Cook's tally, smashing his 33rd century to become the player with joint-most Test tons from his country.
Root accomplished this feat during England's second Test against Sri Lanka at Lord's.
In the first innings after being put to bat first by the Lankan Lions, Root came with England struggling at 42/2. He scored 143 in 206 balls, with 18 fours. His runs came at a strike rate of 69.41.
Now, both Cook and Root have joint-highest number of hundreds for England, having scored 33 runs each. Indian icon Sachin Tendulkar has the most Test centuries with 51.
Also, Root has levelled with English greats Michael Vaughan and Graham Gooch to have the most Test centuries at Lord's, with a total of six centuries each.
Root is just 199 runs away from overtaking Cook as the top-run-getter for England in Tests. As compared to Cook's 12,472 Test runs in 161 Tests, Root has scored 12,274 runs in 145 Tests at an average of 50.71, with 33 centuries and 64 fifties. His best score is 254.
But, Cook has been dethroned by Root as the most prolific batter on English soil. In 77 Tests played in England, Root has scored 6,630 runs at an average of 55.25, with 20 centuries and 32 fifties in 134 innings. His best score is 254.
In England, Cook has scored 6,568 runs in 89 matches at an average of 44.37, with 15 centuries and 32 fifties. His best score is 294.
Now, with 97 fifty-plus scores, Root is at the fifth place for most fifty-plus scores in Test cricket.
Tendulkar has 119 fifty-plus scores in Test cricket, including 51 centuries, the most by a batter in a long format.
Coming to the match, SL won the toss and opted to field first. England lead the three-match series 1-0.
Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka, Nishan Madushka(w), Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya de Silva(c), Kamindu Mendis, Prabath Jayasuriya, Asitha Fernando, Lahiru Kumara, Milan Priyanath Rathnayake
England (Playing XI): Ben Duckett, Daniel Lawrence, Ollie Pope(c), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith(w), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Matthew Potts, Olly Stone, Shoaib Bashir.