England vs Sri Lanka: Joe Root breaks Sir Alastair Cook’s record for most Test centuries

Joe Root broke Alastair Cook’s record for the most Test centuries for England during day three of the second Test against Sri Lanka.

There seemed to be an air of inevitability around Root reaching his milestone and not only did he bring up his 34th century, he also broke five other records during the match.

That alone encapsulates Root’s greatness and shows why he is “England’s finest batter,” according to Sky Sports’ Nasser Hussain.

Root’s first hundred came against New Zealand at Headingley in 2013, under the captaincy of Cook, and 11 years later he stands alone as England’s most prolific century-scorer in the game’s longest format after bringing up his 34th ton on Saturday afternoon at Lord’s.

The 33-year-old became the first player to make centuries in both innings at the Home of Cricket since Michael Vaughan’s hundreds against the West Indies in 2004, following on from the 143 in the first innings which saw him equal Cook’s record.

“I’ve run out of words for that young man, to be honest,” added Hussain.

“He’s just an incredible person, an incredible player, he’s breaking all records.

“The way he gets his runs, he is just absolutely phenomenal. It’s not just about breaking records, it’s about entertaining crowds and batting with real poise and grace, and that’s what he’s done throughout his career.

“We know how difficult it is to get Test-match runs, but this lad makes it look so easy. It’s not that easy – but he makes it look so easy.”

‘Privilege to play with him’

Root (103) reached the feat in style by cutting Sri Lanka’s right-arm pace bowler Lahiru Kumara (3-53) through the covers for four during the 53rd over of England’s second innings, scoring a total of 10 boundaries during his 121-ball outing.

It is the first time he has made two centuries in a single Test and it was also his fastest century to date, coming from 111 balls, and his seventh ton at Lord’s.

Root was eventually dismissed after he holed Kumara out to deep square leg where Kamindu Mendis completed a catch to bring an end to his record-breaking innings, after he helped England build a mighty lead of 482 before they were dismissed for 251 by Sri Lanka.

“It simply doesn’t get better than Joe Root when it comes to any England player,” added former England white-ball captain Eoin Morgan

“It is a privilege to get to say you have played with him.

“Coming through a generation as a cricket fan, when you have an iconic player like this who have you watched in international cricket for 11, 12 years now, just be a serial run scorer.

“But, his game has changed.

“He has gone through stages of scoring runs and staying at the crease to right here and now where he plays a completely different game to most other players around the world.

“He seamlessly scores at a run a ball regardless of if the ball is swinging and against the best of the world. His conversion rate is incredible.

“You should feel very fortunate and privileged to watch this man at work.”

‘Like he’s on autopilot’

The multi-faceted nature of Root’s game – he’s often dubbed as the player with the ‘golden arm’ for getting wickets – is just another example of his greatness.

After performing with the bat, Root went on to bowl four overs, one of which was a maiden, and took vital catches in the slip cordon to dismiss Sri Lanka’s Nishan Madushka (13) and Dhananjaya de Silva (14).

With that, he became the first England fielder to take 200 catches in Test cricket.

“Joe Root has been a Test batter to follow and to watch,” said former Sri Lanka batter Kumar Sangakkara.

“He has an incredible run-scoring ability, incredible focus and once again you don’t really feel how fast he scores runs and rotates strike and how quickly he gets to these hundreds.

“I think he will be happy but I think the happiest thing will be about how he is batting so well and clearly.

“There’s not much thinking. There’s nothing that is frantic, the tempo of his innings is like he on autopilot.

“There’s a feeling of being in complete control in any conditions against the attack.

“That is what will be really satisfying to him.”

Root delivered a modest verdict after a record-breaking day.

“It was a pretty cool feeling…I’m very proud and nice to share a moment with my dad walking off the field, that was really quite special.

“They are all things in a few years’ time I might be able to look back and enjoy. At the minute I still have a lot of cricket to play.”

“It is always a new opportunity to get your team into a position to win the game.

“As a group, to be smart and get them to consistently five or six an over made us get to that position earlier.”

Watch day four of the second Test between England and Sri Lanka at Lord’s, live on Sky Sports Cricket from 10.15am on Sunday September 1 (first ball, 11am).

Sky Sports+ has officially launched and will be integrated into Sky TV, streaming service NOW and the Sky Sports app, giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 per cent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.