Joe Root equals Sachin Tendulkar’s record for most fifties in Test cricket
Joe Root achieved a significant milestone by equaling Sachin Tendulkar's record for most Test half-centuries. He scored his 68th fifty during England's first Test against Pakistan at Headingley. Root and Cox built a crucial partnership to give England a first-innings lead. England's pace bowlers, Robinson and Tongue, took five wickets each to dismiss Pakistan. The team secured a first-innings…
On Thursday, England's Joe Root matched the feat of Indian cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar by becoming the all-time leading batsman in Test cricket to achieve 68 half-centuries. Root accomplished this milestone during the first Test match between England and Pakistan at Headingley. On the second day of the game, the England captain reached his 68th Test fifty before being dismissed for 66 runs off 112 balls, including 10 boundaries.
This achievement put Root on par with Tendulkar at the top of the list for most fifties in Test cricket history. West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul and former Australia captain Allan Border are next on the list with 66 and 63 fifties respectively. Ricky Ponting follows with 62, while India's Rahul Dravid has 63. Ricky Ponting is the closest behind Root in this category, with 62 fifties to his name.
For Root, reaching this milestone came on a significant day in his career, as he returned to the England Test captaincy following Ben Stokes' retirement. Root resumed the day alongside Jordan Cox, who helped England gain control of the match by scoring a century partnership. Cox managed to score 73 runs before being dismissed, while Root fell for 66 runs.
Despite falling short of a century, Root's 66 runs highlighted his consistent performance in Test cricket. Root now tops the list of most 50-plus scores as a Test captain, with 42 such half-centuries to his credit. South Africa's Graeme Smith, Ponting, Border, and Pakistan's Misbah-ul-Haq round out the top five for this category.
During the first innings, England had put themselves in a strong position by bowling Pakistan out for just 171 runs after Root won the toss and elected to field in favorable conditions. Ollie Robinson and Josh Tongue were instrumental in this feat, taking a combined total of 10 wickets, with Robinson finishing with figures of 5/51 and Tongue with 5/46.
Pakistan's Abdullah Shafique offered the most resistance with a score of 61, but England's pace attack eventually broke through and dismissed the visitors inside 49 overs.
Written by urgent.news from Yahoo Sports's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
