Harry Brook scored England's 500,000th Test run on Saturday in New Zealand. (AP)
1082 games, 147 years and 717 cricketers – that’s what has taken England to become the first team to cross 500,000 Test runs on Saturday at the Basin Reserve in Wellington during the second Test against New Zealand.
The founders of the modern sport achieved the feat during their second-innings of the Test on Day 2, having rolled the Kiwis over for only 125 in reply to their 280 in the first essay. Opener Ben Duckett and Jacob Bethell’s rollicking stand helped the Bazballers extend their lead briskly before first-innings centurion Harry Brook secured the milestone run.
Batting in the 51st over, England achieved their half-a-millionth (500000th) run with Brook lofting New Zealand seamer William O’Rourke over mid-off to fetch two runs. England have taken over 18,900 individual innings to achieve the milestone, with their aggregate standing at 500126 at the end of the day’s play. Their Ashes rivals, Australia, stand second on Test aggregates with over 428,000 runs since 1877. India rank third with 278751 runs in 586 Test matches. England also have accounted for the most centuries in the format, amounting to 929.
Joe Root, England’s leading-run scorer in the format, remained unbeaten on 73 as England lifted the lead to 533. Root became only the fourth player to secure 100 fifty-plus Test scores, following Sachin Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting into an elite club.
Most 50+ plus Test scores:
119 (329 innings) – Sachin Tendulkar
103 (280) – Jacques Kallis
103 (287)- Ricky Ponting
100* (276) – Joe Root
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