Joe Root Breaks Rahul Dravid & Allan Border's Record To Take No. 3 Position In Elite List

Star English batter Joe Root once again came to England’s rescue on Saturday (August 24) and helped the Ollie Pope-led side get the better of Sri Lanka in the first Test of the ongoing three-match series. The hosts chased down the target of 205 runs in the fourth inning to win the series opener by five wickets within four days at Old Trafford in Manchester.

Root, who is England’s second-leading run scorer in Test cricket, top-scored in the second innings by remaining unbeaten on 62 runs from 128 balls. During his stay at the crease, he hammered two fours.

The 62-run knock on Saturday not only helped Root seal a win for England but also break former Australian captain Allan Border and former Indian captain Rahul Dravid’s record of 63 half-centuries in Test cricket. The former England Test captain now has 64 fifties to his name in 263 innings of 144 Tests played so far.

Most 50s in Tests

• Sachin Tendulkar (India) – 68
• Shivnarine Chanderpaul (West Indies) – 66
• Joe Root (England) – 64
• Allan Border (Australia) – 63
• Rahul Dravid (India) – 63
• Ricky Ponting (Australia) – 62
• Jacques Kallis (South Africa) – 58
• Alastair Cook (England) – 57
• VVS Laxman (India) – 56

Former Indian batter Sachin Tendulkar holds the record for scoring the most fifties in Test cricket’s history. During his 24-year-long career, the right-handed batter played in a total of 200 Tests and, with the help of 68 fifties and 51 centuries, scored 15,921 runs.

In the list of batters with the most 50s in Tests, Sachin is followed by former West Indies batter Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who finished his career with 66 fifties in 280 innings of 164 Tests.

The world No. 1 Test batter, Root, has been in red-hot form these days. He finished as the leading run scorer in the three-match Test series played between England and the West Indies last month, and in the first innings of the first Test against Sri Lanka, he scored 42 runs from 57 balls.

After taking his tally of 50s to 64 in Tests, Root will now aim to break Sachin’s record in the upcoming matches. Apart from playing in two more red-ball matches for the Poms at home against Sri Lanka, he will travel to Pakistan in October for a three-match Test series.