Joe Root goes top of English Test century list

England v Sri Lanka, 2nd Test, Scorecard

Joe Root hit his second ton in the Lord's Test to surpass Alastair Cook and become the England player with the most centuries in Test cricket.

With England building a mammoth lead in the second innings, Root walked in to stroke a run-a-ball century and notch his 34th Test ton.

It backed up his 143 in the first innings, with his work helping the side claim the Test by 190 runs.

Root, who has been in astounding form, walked in to bat at 42/2 and dominated the Lankan attack with Harry Brook and later Jamie Smith offering company.

The England No.4 scored at a brisk rate and the only half-chance he offered was when an inside edge off Milan Rathnayake evaded the stumps and raced for a boundary.

With the two tons in the Test match, Root now goes past Cook for the most Test centuries by an Englishman.

No contemporary Test batter has as many hundreds, and in the overall list, Root made a notable entry as the equal-sixth highest century-maker.

Root, now 33 years of age, is almost level with the number of hundreds Sachin Tendulkar had before turning 34 (35 Test hundreds).

Root only recently scored his 12,000th Test run to become the seventh-highest run-scorer of all time and the 33-year-old has second-placed Ponting and Tendulkar's overall record within sight.

Root now has fifty centuries in all international cricket, making him only the second current player after Virat Kohli to achieve this rare milestone.

The England star also went on to take his 200th catch in Test cricket later in Sri Lanka's second innings.