England’s hopes in the ongoing Ashes 2025-26 got a huge boost in Brisbane as Joe Root finally scored what was missing from his illustrious career – a Test century in Australia. During a very difficult period at Gabba, Joe Root stepped forward and played a brilliant innings.
Conditions were tough from the start at the Gabba in the second Ashes Test between Australia and India. Mitchell Starc was in great form with the pink ball, and as soon as the lights came up on the first day at the Gabba, the ball started swinging and bouncing quickly.
Joe Root revives England’s Ashes 2025-26 hopes in Australia
England were in deep trouble at 5/2 after Starc dismissed Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope for ducks. Root came in with a lot of pressure already. The former England captain had already reached Australia with the pressure of not being able to score a Test century despite all his achievements.
Also read: Mitchell Starc became the most successful left-arm Test fast bowler, surpassing Wasim Akram.
And then failure in both innings, including a duck, in the opening match of the Ashes 2025-26 in Perth further intensified the criticism. For a player of Root’s stature, going 16 Tests in Australia without scoring a century was surprising and a little embarrassing.
But in his 16th Test in Australia, Root finally ended the drought of that Test century after 12 years. He remained calm even when wickets were falling around him and the Australian bowlers continued to bowl tough spells at him. Cameron Green troubled them with the bounce.
Joe Root ends 12 years of wait, scores first Test century in Australia
On the other hand, Starc kept attacking them rapidly and every run kept coming with pressure. Even Root had nervous moments in the 90s, but he remained there for his team. He formed a match-changing partnership of 117 with Zak Crawley, whose steady 76-run partnership helped England settle down.
After the fall of Crawley, Root made a 54-run partnership with Harry Brook and then got some support from Ben Stokes. But it was Root who kept the scoreboard going for most of the innings. Root scored his first Test century on Australian soil after 181 balls.
This was his first Test in Australia, his fifth against Australia overall and the 40th of his Test career. This also came after 30 attempts to score a century in Ashes Tests abroad.
Also read: Irfan Pathan blames Ravindra Jadeja’s lack of preparedness for India’s 4-wicket loss to South Africa
Joe Root created history at Gabba by ending the 12-year curse
His patience, discipline and class not only helped England put up a strong fight in the ongoing day-night Test against Australia at the Gabba, but also helped Joe Root create history.
With this innings, Root became the first batsman to score 22 centuries in the ICC World Test Championship. Steve Smith is second with 13 centuries, followed by Marnus Labuschagne with 11 centuries in the WTC.
Additionally, Root became the undisputed king of England’s centuries after reaching his 59th international century with his latest century at the Gabba. He is now England’s leading century scorer in international cricket. Root is now way ahead of Alastair Cook (38), Kevin Pietersen (32), Graham Gooch (28) and Andrew Strauss (27) in this elite list.
Well, Root remained unbeaten on 135 off 202 balls with the help of 15 fours and a six, pushing England to 325/9 at stumps on the first day of the ongoing second Ashes Test against Australia at the Gabba. Starc shone with six wickets with the pink ball on the first day.
