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    Ashes 2025-26: Fans go gaga as Joe Root equals Ricky Ponting with a magnificent 41st Test ton vs Australia on Day 2 of Sydney Test

    FreshUsNewsBy No Comments5 Mins Read

    Australia and England served up one other absorbing chapter of Ashes theatre on the Sydney Cricket Floor because the fifth Take a look at of the 2025-26 collection rolled right into a dramatic Day 2 beneath the pink-ball lights. On a floor providing simply sufficient for the seamers however more true than earlier within the collection, England rode a classic Joe Root masterclass to put up a formidable 384 of their first innings.​

    Joe Root’s equals Ricky Ponting together with his forty first Take a look at century 

    Root lit up the Pink Take a look at with an astonishing 160, his second hundred of the collection and his forty first in Take a look at cricket, drawing degree with Australian legend Ricky Ponting on the all-time centuries checklist. The landmark arrived in traditional Root vogue when he punched Michael Neser down the bottom for 2 to achieve three figures off 146 balls, prompting a roar from the SCG crowd as he clenched his fist, raised his bat, and kissed the England badge in a second that encapsulated his standing because the heartbeat of this group.​

    On a marquee Ashes stage and within the iconic Pink Take a look at devoted to the McGrath Basis, Root’s innings felt just like the centerpiece of the collection narrative, particularly given his lengthy chase for hundreds of years in Australia earlier in his profession. Followers flooded social platforms hailing him and celebrating the symmetry of him matching Ponting’s tally in Ponting’s personal yard, underlining simply how far Root has climbed within the pantheon of Take a look at batting greats.​

    Root arrived with England wobbling at 57/3 after a energetic new-ball burst from Mitchell Starc, Neser and Scott Boland, however shortly imposed calm together with his immaculate steadiness, mushy fingers and surgical strike rotation. His 154-run stand with Harry Brook for the fourth wicket remodeled the innings; Brook’s counter-attacking 84 off 97 balls, laced with six fours and a six, launched stress and compelled Australia’s assault onto defensive traces. Whilst rain, dangerous gentle and a number of interruptions truncated Day 1 at 211/3, Root returned on Day 2 with renewed focus, transferring from 72 in a single day to 150 in 226 balls earlier than ultimately falling to a pointy return catch by Neser for 160, denied a maiden double ton on this collection by a chunk of particular person brilliance.​

    Additionally READ: Alastair Cook opens up on possibility of becoming England’s next head coach

    Right here’s how followers reacted:

    England’s 384 places Australia beneath early stress

    England’s complete of 384 felt even larger in context given how bowler-dominated this Ashes has been, and it was constructed round significant contributions by means of the order as soon as Root and Brook had laid the platform. Jamie Smith added an important 46, driving his luck early earlier than discovering fluency, whereas Will Jacks’ affected person 27 in a 50-run stand with Root for the seventh wicket helped push England past 350 and frustrate Australia’s hopes of a fast wrap-up.​

    The innings flowed in clear phases: early turbulence at 51/2, consolidation to 114/3 by lunch on Day 1, then acceleration by means of the afternoon because the Root–Brook partnership surged England previous 200 and ultimately 226/4 earlier than Brook’s dismissal. By the point lunch arrived on Day 2 at 336/6, with Root on 138 and the second new ball taken shortly after, Australia’s seamers have been into their third and fourth spells and the pink ball had misplaced a lot of its chew, permitting Root to shepherd the tail and carry England to 384 in 97.3 overs.​

    Additionally WATCH: Australia and England players unite to give Guard of Honour to Bondi terror attack victims at SCG





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