Joe Root surpasses Alastair Cook to attain twin Ashes milestones in pink ball Test vs Australia

Joe Root attains huge Ashes milestone [Source: AFP Photo]

After twin failures in the Perth Test match against Australia, England batter Joe Root was written off by the Australian cricket experts, but the legendary batter made a roaring comeback in the Day-Night Gabba Test match and achieved twin record on Day 1 of the second Test match at the iconic stadium.

Root came into bat when England was reeling at 5/2, and the number 4 batter absorbed the early pressure as he took on the Aussie bowling attack and went past his former teammate, Sir Alastair Cook in the Ashes run-tally record.

In 35 Tests against Australia, Cook had 2493 runs, and Root surpassed the milestone as he currently has 2497 runs in 36 Tests against the arch-rivals, Australia. Interestingly, he is still short of the record for the most runs scored by an English player against Australia. The great Jack Hobbs stands at the top with 3636 runs, and Root currently occupies the eighth spot in the tally.

Root surpasses Bell in most fifty-plus scores vs Australia

Apart from going past Cook, Joe Root also eclipsed Ian Bell to register the third most fifty-plus scores in Test vs Australia.

• Jack Hobbs once again tops the list as he has accumulated 27 fifty-plus scores, while Herbert Sutcliffe, the English legend, occupies the second spot, and Root, the modern-day great, has jumped to the third place, surpassing Ian Bell.
• Bell sits in fourth place, while Geoff Boycott, David Gower make the top five list of English players with most fifty-plus scores. Both Boycott and Gower had 21 such scores against the Aussies.
• Still 33, Root has enough time to surpass Hobs and occupy the top spot in the list.

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