LONDON: Joe Root set an England record of 34 Test centuries when he reached three figures for the second time in the second Test against Sri Lanka at Lord’s.
Root, who made 143 in the first innings to move level with the previous England record of 33 hundreds held by the retired Alastair Cook, went to a century on Saturday’s third day when he cut Lahiru Kumara for the 10th four off 111 balls faced.
It meant Root surpassed his fellow former England captain’s mark. It is Root’s 145th Test compared to Cook’s career tally of 161 matches.
He was last man out for 103 in England’s second-innings total of 251 on the third day. Sri Lanka faced a mammoth target of 483 to level this three-match series at 1-1.
Root’s seventh Test hundred at Lord’s also gave him sole possession of the record for the most Test centuries at the ‘Home of Cricket’ he had shared with the England duo of Graham Gooch and Michael Vaughan, who both managed six apiece.
Root also became the fourth batsman to have scored hundreds in both innings of a Test at Lord’s, joining the West Indies’ George Headley (1939), Gooch (1990) and Vaughan (2004).
Gooch’s combined tally of 456 runs against India at Lord’s in 1990, comprising innings of 333 and 123, remains a record for the most runs scored by a single batsman in any Test.
Root’s latest century also moved him into joint-sixth place in an all-time list of Test century-makers headed by India great Sachin Tendulkar, who scored 51 hundreds in 200 Tests from 1989-2013.
The 33-year-old Root is the only batsman in this group who is still an active Test cricketer.
Most Test hundreds (number of hundreds, matches, player, team (s), span):
51 200 Sachin Tendulkar IND 1989-2013
45 166 Jacques Kallis RSA 1995-2013
41 168 Ricky Ponting AUS 1995-2012
38 134 Kumar Sangakkara SRI 2000-2015
36 164 Rahul Dravid IND/ICC 1996-2012
34 118 Younis Khan PAK 2000-2017
34 125 Sunil Gavaskar IND 1971-1987
34 131 Brian Lara WIS/ICC 1990-2006
34 149 Mahela Jayawardene SRI 1997-2014
34 145 Joe Root ENG 2012 -
33 161 Alastair Cook ENG 2006-2018
Joe Root sets new England record of 34 Test hundreds
https://arab.news/94d3w
Joe Root sets new England record of 34 Test hundreds
- Root made 143 in the first innings to level the previous England record of 33 hundreds held by the retired Alastair Cook
- He went to a century on Saturday’s third day against Sri Lanka when he cut Lahiru Kumara for the 10th four off 111 balls
Palestine, Syria celebrate reaching Arab Cup quarter-finals
- Both nations knew a draw in their final Group A match would secure Palestine top spot with Syria progressing in second place
DOHA: Celebrations erupted on the pitch and in the stands in Doha on Sunday when both Palestine and Syria made it through to the Arab Cup quarter-finals following a 0-0 draw.
For both sides, reaching the knockout stage in the regional tournament hosted by Qatar was magnified by the all-too recent memory of conflict in their homelands.
Only weeks ago in Gaza, the war sparked by Hamas’ attack on Israel came to a halt under a fragile ceasefire plan brokered by the United States.
For the Syrian side, the game came on the eve of the anniversary of the ousting of Bashar Assad, who unleashed years of war with his crackdown on pro-democracy protests.
Both nations knew a draw in their final Group A match would secure Palestine top spot with Syria progressing in second place.
Even ahead of the final whistle, around 40,000 fans packing the Education City Stadium began dancing and chanting to celebrate the two sides’ entry into the last eight.
And at the end of the game, players on the pitch swapped jerseys and posed for photographs together, as the squads’ coaches embraced each other.
“We are very happy to top the group, which included two great teams like Qatar and Tunisia, and we congratulate all Palestinian fans,” said Palestine striker Oday Dabbagh.
“We played to win, especially after learning about Tunisia’s lead over Qatar, but we lacked the final touch in front of the goal... The most important thing is that we qualified.”
Palestine coach Ehab Abu Jazar paid tribute to his mother, who along with his brother and other loved ones had to flee her home and now lives in a tent in Gaza.
“She has a lot of experience with sports, and she told me to play carefully,” he told AFP.
Syrian striker Mahmoud Al-Mawas said the result “means a lot to Syrians because it coincides with the Liberation Day celebrations...
“Now, all our focus will be on the quarter-final.”
At a cafe in the Syrian capital, Damascus, 30-year-old Wafa Durri watched the game, with her country’s flag adorning her right cheek.
“I had never supported the national team, but after the liberation everything changed, and now I support it with all my heart,” she said.
