Joe Root surpasses England's record for most Test half-centuries, closing in on Tendulkar's milestone

England batter Joe Root has once again made history, surpassing all other English players with the most fifties in Test cricket. His outstanding performance in the first Test against Sri Lanka at Manchester solidified his place in the record books.

After a fine 42 in the first innings, Root once again showcased his class, composure and clutch game in a tense run chase of 205 runs, scoring an unbeaten 62 in 128 balls, with two fours, coming in when England was 56/2.

Now, Root has scored 64 fifties for England, the most by a batter from his team and overall third-highest. He is just behind Shivnarine Chanderpaul of West Indies and Indian icon Sachin Tendulkar in the list of most Test half-centuries.

This was also Root's 10th fifty-plus score in fourth innings, showcasing his immense mastery and command over this phase of the game. Above him are greats like Michael Atherton, Alastair Cook, who have scored 11 half-centuries each in fourth innings.

This was also Root's eighth fifty-plus score at Manchester, making him the player with most fifty-plus scores at this venue in Test cricket.

Coming to the match, SL won the toss and opted to bat first. Struggling at 113/7, it was knocks from skipper Dhananjaya de Silva and Milan Rathnayake that pushed SL to 236/10.

Chris Woakes and Shoaib Bashir were the top bowlers for England.

Despite a poor start and a tricky score of 67/3, fine performances from middle order batters Joe Root , Harry Brook , centurion Jamie Smith helped England attain a lead of 122 runs as they were bundled out for 358 runs.

Ashitha Fernando and Prabhat Jayasuriya delivered fine spells for Sri Lanka.

In their second innings, SL once again found themselves in a troublesome position, with the score reading 95/4. However, veterans Angelo Matthews , Dinesh Chandimal formed a 78-run partnership to push SL towards a lead. Later, keeping his fine form, Kamindu Mendis slammed his second Test ton in five innings, scoring 113 in 183 balls, with 15 fours and a six. SL put up a total of 326/10, giving them a respectable lead of 204 runs.

Woakes and Matthew Potts took fine three wickets each to lead England bowling charts.

In reply, England was in a tight position at 70/3. However, Root's calm and composed half-century and solid contributions from Brook and Smith took England to a five wicket win.

England take a 1-0 lead in two-match series.

Smith took home 'Player of the Match' award for his century.

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