Joe Root Finally Conquers Australia with a Long-Awaited Ashes Century
Picture the scene: England were wobbling badly at 5-2 in just the third over. The Gabba crowd was alive, Australia’s bowlers were roaring in, and Root walked out with the weight of 12 years of unfinished business on his back. He was even dropped on two, and wickets kept falling around him, but this time he wasn’t letting the moment slip. What followed was an innings built on grit, calculation, and pure class. By the time he nudged that flick off his pads to reach his hundred, the sense of relief—his own, his teammates’, and honestly even the fans watching back home—was almost tangible.
His celebration said it all: a simple helmet raise, a shrug, almost as if to say, “Well, we finally got there.” Sir Alastair Cook summed it up perfectly, insisting that even Australia would have to admit now that Root is one of the greats. And he’s right. This was the one missing piece from an otherwise exceptional Test career.
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What makes the century even more impressive is the context. Root adjusted his game deliberately, avoiding those behind-square off-side shots that have cost him so many times in Australia. He batted straighter, got down the pitch to counter the pink ball’s movement, and weathered the toughest phases, especially under floodlights. His scoring slowed noticeably during those tricky spells, but that was the point—this was Root adapting to conditions that had troubled him for years.
Of course, the theatre around the moment only made it better. Former Australia opener Matthew Hayden had joked he’d walk around the MCG naked if Root didn’t get a ton this series. Well, Australia—and Hayden—were spared that sight. And Root’s knock didn’t just silence the “Average Joe” headlines from Australian papers, it also nudged him closer to Ricky Ponting’s tally of Test hundreds and added momentum to his chase of Sachin Tendulkar’s all-time runs record.
By the end of the day, England rode the wave of Root’s brilliance to finish on 325-9, with Root even cutting loose late on alongside Jofra Archer in a lively partnership. It was the kind of defiance England haven’t shown in Australia for far too long.
So yes—this wasn’t just a century. It was a statement, an exhale, and maybe the spark England needed to keep this Ashes battle alive. And at long last, Joe Root’s Australian chapter finally has the landmark it always deserved.
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