Joe Root breaks Jacques Kallis’s record during Zimbabwe Test

NOTTINGHAM: England’s experienced batter Joe Root on Thursday, achieved another milestone in his glittering red-ball career as he became the fastest to 13000 runs in Test cricket.

The right-handed veteran achieved the landmark during the opening day of their solitary Test against Zimbabwe when he clipped Victor Nyauchi for a single on the first delivery of the 80th over to score his 28th run.

Root eventually fell victim to Blessing Muzarabani in the 83rd after scoring 34 runs off 44 balls.

However, his 34-run knock was enough to take him past South African legend Kallis to become the fastest to breach the 13000-run barrier in the longest format.

Root achieved the milestone in his 153rd innings, six fewer than Kallis’s tally of 159.

Fastest to 13000 Test Runs

1) Joe Root (England) - 153 innings

2) Jacques Kallis (South Africa) - 159 innings

3) Rahul Dravid (India) - 160 innings

4) Ricky Ponting (Australia) - 162 innings

5) Sachin Tendulkar (England) - 163 innings

Overall, Joe Root is only the fifth batter in history to amass 13000 runs in Tests, joining the likes of India’s Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, Australia’s Ricky Ponting and South Africa’s Kallis.

Batting great Tendulkar holds the record for scoring the most runs in the longest formats (15921), while Root is the only active player in the elusive list and is considered one of the favourites to surpass the Indian legend.

Most runs in Test cricket

Sachin Tendulkar (India) — 15921

Ricky Ponting (Australia) — 13378

Jacques Kallis (South Africa) — 13289

Rahul Dravid (India) — 13288

Joe Root (England) — 13006