Having been not out on 73 overnight, Root reaped the benefits of England's decision not to declare in the morning session of day three. England were 533 runs ahead at the end of day two of the second Test match against New Zealand, but they pushed on to well past 550.

Root reached his century in the eighth over of play, pulling out his reverse-ramp shot and getting a glove on the ball, which flew over Tom Blundell's head. Three balls later, however, he was dismissed caught behind off Will O'Rourke, ending his innings on 106 off 130 balls.

It was Root's sixth Test hundred this year, the ones before it coming against India, West Indies, twice against Sri Lanka and a double in Pakistan. This was the second-lowest three figure score Root has been dismissed for in 2024, the lowest being 103 in the second innings of the Lord's Test match against Sri Lanka. However, this innings was also one of his quickest three-figure scores of the year, finishing it with a strike-rate of 81.53. The only innings that beat that this year was again the second innings of the Lord's Test against Sri Lanka, in which he struck at 85.12.

This is the second time Root has scored six Test hundreds in a calendar year. He previously did it in 2021, becoming at the time only the second England player with as many hundreds as that in a calendar year after Denis Compton in 1947. In 2022 Jonny Bairstow also equalled that national record. Root is, though, the only English player to have scored six Test hundreds in a calendar year twice, and is one of only three players to have done so across all nations.

Full list: Players with the most Test hundreds in a calendar year

Mohammad Yousuf - 9

Viv Richards - 7
= Aravinda de Silva
= Ricky Ponting
= Sachin Tendulkar

Denis Compton - 6
= Garfield Sobers
= Matthew Hayden
= Michael Vaughan
= Ricky Ponting x2
= Damien Martyn
= Graeme Smith
= Tillakaratne Dilshan
= Jacques Kallis
= David Warner
= Steve Smith x2
= Joe Root x2
= Jonny Bairstow