Gabba, December 04: England's star batsman Joe Root on Thursday finally broke the jinx and scored his maiden Test century against Australia on the Australian soil. He achieved the feat during the Day 1 of the second Ashes Test at The Gabba in Brisbane.
Joe Root reached his 40th Test hundred in a day-night test match. His ton helped England to cross the 250-runs mark after choosing to bat first. This long-awaited milestone ends a long dry run for Joe Root in Australia.
Joe Root achieved the milestone during the 291st innings of his test career. The century comes after a wait of over 159 matches. This knock is also his fifth Ashes Test century as his previous four centuries came in England. Before this innings, his highest Test score in Australia was only 89 runs, which was scored in Brisbane in 2021.
Joe Root has joined the elite group of Test cricket greats after achieving this milestone. He now has 40 Test centuries. He has become only the fourth player in cricketing history after Sachin Tendulkar (51), Jacques Kallis (45) and Ricky Ponting (41). He also has 66 Test half centuries to his name.
England staged a strong recovery on Day 1 of the ongoing second Ashes Test at The Gabba after losing two quick wickets early to Mitchell Starc. A composed partnership between Joe Root and Zak Crawley steadied the innings with a crucial 93-run stand.
Root then carried the momentum forward, reaching his long-awaited maiden Test century in Australia and ending the day as England’s anchor. England finished Day 1 at 252/7, putting themselves back in the contest after a shaky start, while Australia’s pace attack continued to apply pressure under the pink-ball conditions.
