Joe Root’s long wait for a Test century in Australia ended on Thursday, and the landmark brought unexpected relief for former Australian opener Matthew Hayden, who had publicly made a bold promise if Root failed to score a century in Australia on the tour. Hayden, who had wagered that he would “walk nude around the MCG” if Root failed to score a hundred this Ashes summer, congratulated the England batter soon after the milestone, calling it a moment he had been “literally” invested in.
“Congratulations, mate, on a hundred in Australia. Took you a while, and there was no one that had more skin in the game than me, literally,” Hayden said in a video posted by England Cricket on X. After 16 matches, 30 innings, and four tours spread across over a decade, Joe Root finally had his moment in Australia. The England batter reached his maiden century on Australian soil on Thursday at the Gabba in Brisbane, in the second Test of the ongoing Ashes series, bringing an end to a long wait. Root reached the milestone in 181 balls, batting through a phase when England needed stability and control, and in the process, checked off one of the few achievements missing from his record.His earlier highest Test score on Australian soil was 89.With the century on Thursday, Joe Root has now scored 40 hundreds in his Test career. Root is now only one behind former Australian captain Ricky Ponting, who has 41 Test hundreds.Overall, Root is at number four in terms of number of centuries in Tests, behind only Sachin Tendulkar (51), Jacques Kallis (45), and Ricky Ponting (41).At the end of day one’s play at Gabba, England were 325/9 with Joe Root (135), and Jofra Archer (32) at the crease.Australia, who won the opening Test inside two days in Perth, went into this match without regular skipper Pat Cummins.He had been rumoured to be making an early return from a back injury, but instead the hosts sprung a major surprise by leaving out off-spinner Nathan Lyon for seamer Michael Neser.It was the first time in almost 14 years that Australia played a Test at home without a frontline spinner.
Big relief for Mathew Hayden
Former Australian opener Matthew Hayden had expressed confidence that ace England batter Joe Root would break his century drought Down Under during the Ashes series.Hayden had said that he was willing to walk around the Melbourne Cricket Ground completely naked if Root failed to make a century on the tour. Speaking on the ‘All Over Bar the Cricket’ podcast on YouTube, Hayden gave himself a massive dare if Root failed to score a century in Australia during the series, saying, “I will walk nude around the MCG if he doesn’t make a hundred this summer.”Former India off-spinner took a cheeky jibe at Hayden after the ton. “Haydos should be getting suited up,” Ashwin posted on X after Root’s ton. In another post, he said, “Haydos safe and secure now.”
