The win over India in the opening Test of the ongoing four-match series was Joe Root’s 26th victory as England captain in 47 matches.
Sri Lankan openers Kusal Perera and Lahiru Thirimanne led a fightback from the hosts with a 101-run partnership after England captain Joe Root's double hundred powered them to a score of 421 on Day 3 of the first Test. At stumps, Sri Lanka were 156/2 and trailed England by 130 runs. Credit: Sri Lanka Cricket Twitter
England captain Joe Root has equalled Michael Vaughan’s record for most Test wins as the Three Lions skipper after leading the visitors to a 227-run win at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Tuesday.
The win over India in the opening Test of the ongoing four-match series was Root’s 26th victory as England captain. He got to the number in 47 matches, while Vaughan had achieved the feat in 51 matches.
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Root, who had taken over the baton of captaincy from Alastair Cook in 2017, sits fifth on the list of ‘most Test matches as captain’ of England.
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Cook is at the top of the list with 59 matches, followed by Michael Atherton with 54 matches. Vaughan is third with 51 matches and Andrew Strauss is fourth above Root on 50.
England have also won all Tests against India in which Root has scored a century. He scored 218 in the first Test, which was his fifth century against India. His first hundred against India was Root’s third of his career which came at Trent Bridge, Nottingham in July 2014. The double century in Chennai was also Root’s first double ton against India.
England took a 1-0 lead against India on Tuesday in the four-match Test series at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Chasing a target of 420 runs, India were bowled out for 192 with Root being declared Player of the Match for his double hundred in the first innings.
Meanwhile, the emphatic 227-run win over India in the opening match of the ongoing four-Test series has kept England’s hopes alive of making it to the World Test Championship final as they have now reached to the top of the points table.
The final of the Test championship is scheduled to be held at the Lord’s in June this year.
The win on Tuesday took England to the first place of World Test Championship’s points table with 70.2 percentage points.
The Joe Root-led side took the first step in the direction of securing one of the three series results — 3-1, 3-0 or 4-0 — that would help them qualify for the final.
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