JUST two days after equalling Sir Alastair Cook’s record of most Test centuries for England, Yorkshire superstar Joe Root went top of that list on his own.
He scored twin hundreds in a comprehensive 190-run win over Sri Lanka at Lord’s, cementing his status as one of the greatest batsman of the modern era.
The Sheffield-born ace compiled a superb 143 in the first innings, which along with Gus Atkinson’s maiden first-class century, propelled England to 427 all out.
Sri Lanka struggled in reply, only making 196, but the hosts chose not to enforce the follow-on.
Instead, Root looked as if he was batting on a different track to his team-mates.
He made a glorious 103 from 121 balls to overtake Cook’s record of 33 Test centuries, his 34th helping England to post 251 in their second innings.
Faced with an unrealistic 483 to win, Sri Lanka battled hard, but were eventually bowled out for 292 after 86.4 overs.
With Root leading the way, England have won the series, and they can secure a whitewash by claiming victory in the third and final Test at The Oval, which starts on Friday.
And if Root is at one end of the experience scale, his Yorkshire team-mate Jafer Chohan is at the other.
While turning 22 this summer, the young Londoner was also catching the eye for the Vikings in the Vitality T20 Blast, taking 17 wickets as his side just missed out on the quarter-finals.
And the leg-spinner has now received a shock call up to the prestigious Big Bash League in Australia, Sydney Sixers opting to take a chance on him with the final pick of the T20 competition’s draft.
He is a graduate of the South Asian Cricket Academy (SACA), a scheme launched in 2021 aimed at addressing the underrepresentation of British South Asian players at the top level.
After being released by Middlesex aged 17, he returned to the county game through the SACA, where he worked closely with Amar Rashid, Adil's brother.
Earlier this year, he was quoted as saying: "I couldn't be more grateful: without Adil and Amar, my game wouldn't be where it is right now.”
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