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The ongoing five-match Ashes series in Australia started with special pressure for England’s legendary batsman Joe Root. In the last few years, he has consistently performed brilliantly and has cemented his place among the best Test batsmen of the modern era. Despite this, one major flaw in his career always remained prickly, the absence of a century on Australian soil.

Root’s first century in Australia

Root had played 16 Test matches in Australia so far, but did not have a single century in his name. This was surprising for such a big player and there was continuous discussion about it. Former Australian opener Matthew Hayden had even jokingly said that if Root could not score a century in this Ashes series, he would walk barefoot on the Melbourne Cricket Ground. But now this joke has been left behind, because Root finally ended the long wait by scoring his first Test century in Australia. Not only did the England team heave a sigh of relief at his performance, but Hayden also lived up to his promise.

Root came to the crease when England’s condition was very bad. Only 2 wickets for 5 runs had fallen on the scoreboard and Mitchell Starc’s explosive bowling had further increased the pressure on the visiting team. Both Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope had returned to the pavilion without opening the account. In such difficult times, Root showed patience and gave stability to the team by making a partnership of 117 runs with Jack Crawley. Crawley was out after scoring 76 runs, but Root remained at one end. Later he got the support of Harry Brook and captain Ben Stokes, although England’s innings got the most strength due to Root.

Smith’s record broken

If we look at his centuries, Root has now scored 24 centuries in England, 4 in West Indies, 3 centuries each in India, Sri Lanka and New Zealand, while one century each in South Africa, Pakistan and now Australia. With this new century, Root has also broken a big record of Steve Smith. He has become the batsman who has scored the most centuries away from home in the World Test Championship. Compared to Smith’s 8 centuries, Root has now reached the top with 9 centuries.

On the other hand, Australian star bowler Mitchell Starc bowled brilliantly in the Gabba Test and took six wickets. He had only one wicket to his name in the last match, so this performance brought relief for the team. Australia is hoping that Starc will maintain his rhythm in the series and will continue to take important wickets in the future.