Joe Root Celebrates Maiden Test Century in Australia During Ashes Clash
Root's Historic Achievement on Australian Soil
Brisbane [Australia], December 4: Matthew Hayden, the former Australian cricketer, extended his congratulations to Joe Root after the English star achieved his first Test century in Australia on the opening day of the second Ashes Test in Brisbane on Thursday.
Prior to the much-anticipated Ashes series, Hayden made a humorous bet, stating he would walk around the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in the nude if Root did not score a century during the series.
To Hayden's delight, Root delivered a remarkable performance, scoring a century on Day 1 of the pink-ball Test at the Gabba. "Congratulations mate on a hundred here in Australia. It took you some time, and no one had more skin in the game than me, literally. I was rooting for you to hit a hundred in a good way. So congratulations, ten fifties and finally a hundred. You little ripper mate. Have a beauty and bloody enjoy it," Hayden expressed in a video shared by England Cricket on X.
Root reached his milestone in 181 balls, marking his 40th century in Test cricket. It took him 30 innings to achieve his first hundred in Australia.
He became the second English player, following Maurice Leyland, to score a century on the first day of a Gabba Test, and the eighth English player to achieve this feat at the venue.
At the end of Day 1, England stood at 325/9 after 74 overs, with Joe Root scoring 135 runs off 202 balls, including 15 fours and one six, while Jofra Archer contributed 32 runs off 26 balls, hitting one four and two sixes.
Mitchell Starc of Australia claimed his second five-wicket haul of the ongoing Ashes series, marking his 18th five-wicket haul in Test cricket.
Brief Scores: England 196/4 (Zak Crawley 76, Joe Root 68*) vs Australia.