Len hutton

Pacer Gus Atkinson: England’s premier batter Joe Root has extended his lead on top of the ICC Men’s Test batting rankings after notching up twin centuries in his side’s 190-run win over Sri Lanka at Lord’s.

Root’s scores of 143 and 103 have helped him get a lead of 63 points over second-placed Kane Williamson. Root is now on 922 rating points, just one short of his best-ever total: of 923 points, which he achieved against India at Edgbaston in July 2022.

Only three England batters have attained higher points tallies than Root – Len Hutton, Jack Hobbs and Peter May. Daryl Mitchell of New Zealand, Steve Smith of Australia and Harry Brook of England are at three to five positions in the Test batters’ list and are followed by the Indian troika of captain Rohit Sharma, his opening partner Yashaswi Jaiswal and talismanic batter Virat Kohli.