33-year-old England National Cricket Team batsman Joe Root He reached a major milestone as a fielder in the second Test of the three-match series against the Sri Lanka National Cricket Team at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London.
Sri Lanka set a target of 483 runs to win the Lord’s Test and level the series. Sri Lanka needed their opponents Dimut Karunaratne and Nishan Madushka to bat well and get off to a great start.
However, they could not achieve this and Nishan Madushka fell in the 8th place. On the first ball of the over, Gus Atkinson hit a back of a length and the ball took the outside edge of Madushka’s catch to fall into the hands of Root at first slips. He was dismissed for 13 runs off 25 balls.
Madushka’s catch was her 199th in Test cricket and it didn’t take long for her to reach 200.
Joe Root reached a historic milestone in the last ball of the 14th over when he caught Pathum Nissanka off an Ollie Stone delivery. The pacer hit a back of a length and got an edge as Nissanka tried to defend it and the ball flew to Root at first slip. Pathum Nissanka walked out after scoring 14 runs off 24 balls and hitting 3 fours.
Meanwhile, Root became the first England player to take 200 catches in Test cricket history. He is only 33 years old now and it will not be a surprise if he breaks Rahul Dravid’s record for most catches by a non-wicket player in the history of Test cricket.
HIT 200 IN TEST CRICKET!
The notes keep coming for Joe Root… pic.twitter.com/voS6MpnK8b
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 31, 2024
Most catches by non-wickets/fielders in Test cricket history:
Rahul Dravid (Ind/ICC) – 210
Mahela Jayawardene (SL) – 205
Jacques Kallis (SA/ICC) – 200
Joe Root (English) – 200
Ricky Ponting (Australia) – 196
He’s only breaking records this week – Michael Vaughan on Joe Root
Former England National Cricket Team captain Michael Vaughan was on air and Root took his 200th Test cap, watching the star cricketer break records in the ongoing Test against Sri Lanka.
“Joe Root was in the air when he caught it. It was a good ball from Ollie Stone, it had that extra bounce. It’s 200 Test matches for Joe Root. He’s breaking records this week,” Michael Bu told BBC Test Match Special quoted Vaughan as saying.
Michael Vaughan also said that Root will be dangerous with the ball for the Sri Lankan left-handers.
“I think Joe Root is a real threat against left-handers from the Nursery End. I wonder if Dan Lawrence is worth a bowl. He’s got an unusual movement, a bit different to Joe Root. It would be good to get that. he’s back in the game.”
Meanwhile, earlier in the innings, Root smashed twin centuries to break Alastair Cook’s all-time record for most Test tons by an Englishman in history. Root now has 34 Test tons to his name.
Also, he became the fourth batsman in history to smash twin tons at Lord’s in Tests. He has been in great form in Test cricket over the past few years as he has smashed 17 tons since 2021, the most he has hit since his debut to 2021.
Root also completed 50 tons in international cricket, becoming the 9th batsman to achieve the feat. Nasser Hussain was in awe of Root’s ton and speaking on Sky Sports, he said his runs were absolutely phenomenal.
