Joe Cements His Roots Down Under, Burns Down 'Australia Jinx' To Ashes With 40th Test Ton At The Iconic Gabba

Joe Root has finally brought an end to his century drought on Australian soil. The England star slammed his 40th test ton, his first in Australia.

Joe Root Closing In On Sachin Tendulkar's Record

This also happens to be Joe Root's 5th century against Australia and his first away Test ton in the Ashes, which now came in his 30th attempt. On a day when the other English batters struggled to navigate a certain Mitchell Starc challenge, Root has barely been troubled by the Aussie bowlers. He now has 10 more hundreds than Virat Kohli in the red ball format and is chasing Sachin Tendulkar's record, who has the most Test hundreds to his name, 51.

Root's previous best was 89 in Perth, and he failed to cross double figures in any of the innings in the first Test match.

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England didn't have the ideal start as Starc struck very early to dismiss both Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope. But it was Zak Crawley who took on the fight to the Australian bowlers with his counterattack. The 27 year old scored a quickfire 76 runs in just 93 balls, and it helped Root to settle down with his positive approach.

Mitchell Starc Shatters Another Test Record

Mitchell Starc leapfrogged former Pakistan pacer Wasim Akram to become the highest wicket-taker by a left-arm seamer in Tests. Earlier, Akram held the record with 414 wickets in Test matches, but Starc surpassed the former cricketer to claim the top spot.

Apart from Duckett and Pope, Harry Brook, Will Jacks, Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse also became Starc's victims.

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