The first of four Tests between India and England that was played in Chennai from February 5-9, 2021 was England skipper Joe Root’s 100th Test match. He celebrated it in style, as he top-scored for his side in both innings and helped them register an important victory.
Victory was made sweeter for Root by the fact that he had made the highest individual score by any cricketer playing their 100th Test. His first innings knock of 218, in fact, was the first time a player playing his 100th Test had scored a double hundred.
With his first innings knock of 218, England captain Joe Root became just the ninth cricketer in Test cricket history to score a century in their 100th Test match. His innings, which spanned 536 minutes (four minutes short of nine hours!) and included 19 fours and 2 sixes, helped his side post a huge total of 578 in the innings. That went a long way towards ensuring that England won the first Test by 227 runs.
Root’s 218 is the highest Test score by an English batsman in India, surpassing the previous best of 207 scored by Mike Gatting in 1985, also in Chennai.
Joe Root became the first batsman in Test history to score a double hundred in their 100th Test match.
Root, who played his 100th Test against India, also played his 1st and 50th Test against the same opposition.
Players who scored a hundred in their hundredth test match
- Englands Colin Cowdrey scored 104 against Australia at Birmingham in July 1968
- Pakistan’s Javed Miandad scored 145 against India at Lahore in December 1989
- West Indies Gordon Greenidge scored 149 against England at Antigua in April 1990
- England’s Alec Stewart scored 105 against West Indies at Manchester in August 2000
- Pakistan’s Inzamam-ul-Haq scored 184 against India at Bengaluru in March 2005
- Australia Ricky Ponting scored 120 and 143 not out against South Africa at Sydney in January 2006
- South Africa’s Graeme Smith scored 131 against England at London in July 2012
- South Africa’s Hashim Amla scored 134 against Sri Lanka at Johannesburg in January 2017
- Englands Joe Root scored 218 against India at Chennai in February 2021.
Top three scores by a player playing their 100th test:
Joe Root
England Batting style: Right-hand bat Bowling style: Right-arm offbreak Date of birth December 30. 1990 Scored 218 in his 100th Test against India at Chennai in February 2021.
Inzamam-ul Haq
Pakistan Batting style: Right hand bat Date of birth: March 3, 1970 Scored 184 in his 100th Test, also against India at Bengaluru in March 2005. Inzamam’s mark was the highest score by a player in his 100th Test for over 15 years, till Root went past it.
Gordon Greenidge
West Indies Batting style: Right-hand bat Date of birth: May 1, 1951 Scored 149 in his 100th Test against England at Antigua in April 1990, going past the previous best set by Javed Miandad (145) just months back.
Picture Credit : Google
