NZ vs ENG: Joe Root Surpasses Steve Waugh In Test Cricket's All-Timer's Elite List
Root scored 153* & 95 in the Wellington Test (Twitter/ECB)
On the fifth day of the Wellington Test, not only did the former England Test captain Joe Root take his team to the verge of victory but also surpassed a milestone being a cherry on his cake.
After amassing an unbeaten 153 in the first innings, Root continued from where he left with his willow. Chasing a respectable total against the Tim Southee-led bowling, the right-hander did go berserk, despite captain Ben Stokes playing calculative from the other end.
During his crease, the Yorkshire-born scored a spellbinding 95 off just 113 deliveries before he was knocked down by a Neil Wagner bumper. However, with this crackerjack of a knock, he surpassed Steve Waugh's tally of 10,927 runs to become the 11th-highest Test run-getter.
The next over Root is the legendary Allan Border, with a prolific run-tally of 11,174 runs. However, if the Englishman goes with the current run rate, he can even challenge Sachin Tendulkar's world record of 15,921 runs, which he notched after 329 innings.
Highest Run-Getters in Test Cricket
SR Tendulkar (IND) - 15,921 runs
Ricky Ponting (AUS) - 13,378 runs
Jacques Kallis (SA) - 13,289 runs
Rahul Dravid (IND) - 13,288 runs
Alastair Cook (ENG) - 12472 runs
Kumar Sangakkara (SL) - 12,400 runs
Brian Lara (WI) - 11,953 runs
Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI) - 11,867 runs
Mahela Jayawardene (SL) - 11,814 runs
Allan Border (AUS) - 11,174 runs
Joe Root (AUS) - 10948 runs*
Before Root's dismissal, the Kiwi left-arm workhorse also scalped Stokes with a similar sort of a delivery.
At the time of writing, the visitors are 27 runs away from their target but with just two wickets in hand.