Joe Root’s latest hundred, against India at Trent Bridge, was instantly hailed as one of his best. But where does it actually rank?

The England captain has now made 21 Test hundreds, with all coming in victory or a stalemate; if Root succeeds, England don’t lose. That makes ranking his hundreds even more of a challenge, but Wisden.com have given it a go.

Here’s what we came up with.

21. 136 v West Indies, Edgbaston, August 17-19, 2017

England were 39-2 at one point, and West Indies would show at Headingley that they weren’t actually terrible, but the tourists’ effort in the first Test, a day-nighter, suggested otherwise. Alastair Cook made one of those flat-pitch big doubles that pockmarked his latter career, and Dawid Malan’s 65 felt almost like a failure, so this sits dead last.

20. 226 v New Zealand, Hamilton, November 29-December 3, 2019

It says plenty when your second-worst Test ton is a double away from home against one of the best teams in the world. But this was such a dead track, with only 22 wickets falling in the game, that it doesn’t rank too highly.

19. 122 v West Indies, Gros Islet, February 9-12, 2019

West Indies had already won the series, and some of the intensity had gone. England also had a big lead. Meh.

18. 124 v India, Rajkot, November 9-13, 2016

Flat pitch, drab draw. At the time it felt like it might set the tone for a series in which England could compete with India. With hindsight, it did not.

17. 180 v Australia, Lord’s, July 18-21, 2013

A near-double in an Ashes win, but also one that came at a funereal – for Root – strike-rate of 52. With England claiming a first-innings lead of over 200, this just dragged out the inevitable. It also convinced us he could be a Test opener, which is a bad thing on the whole.

16. 154* v India, Trent Bridge, July 9-13, 2014

You can make the argument this is a great knock, with England 298-9, more than 150 runs behind, and somehow still claiming a lead due to Root’s brilliance. But James Anderson made 81, so batting can’t have been too taxing.

15. 149* v India, The Oval, August 15-17, 2014

This is technically a daddy hundred at nearly a run a ball to seal a series win against one of the best teams in the world. But India had already mentally checked out, slipping to 90-9 on the first day and bowled out for 94 in the third innings, and Root had a rare platform, coming in at 203-3.

14. 125 v India, The Oval, September 7-11, 2018

England had already won the series, but India hadn’t given up. Joe Root played second fiddle to Cook’s magnificent swansong, but given this was peak ‘conversion rate woes’ time, it carries personal significance.

13. 228 v Sri Lanka, Galle, January 14-18, 2021

Sri Lanka were hilariously crap in the first innings, gifting Dom Bess a five-for, and Root got plenty of support, for once. But given the travails of 2020, his only century-less year in Test cricket, this felt like a new page had been turned. The rest of 2021 so far suggests that might be the case.

12. 182* v West Indies, St. George’s, April 21-25, 2015

Root had a rare platform, coming in at 162-3, and again, West Indies felt limited, even though they would prove competitive in the third, earning a series-levelling draw. He stroked it on a pitch where few others could, and looked suitably annoyed after a dozy Anderson run out robbed him of a dart at a double.

11. 200* v Sri Lanka, Lord’s, June 12-16, 2014

A ton to banish some of the pain of the winter, and to reassert Root as a world-class talent after his one and only Test dropping.

10. 104 v New Zealand, Headingley, May 24-28, 2013

At Root’s home ground, England slipped to three down early on, with the future captain embracing the familiar feeling of walking in before lunch. His ton underpinned a total just above 350, setting the platform for a series-sealing win. Boult and Southee weren’t quite the bowlers they are now, but the pitch still had enough in it. This is also one of Root’s busiest hundreds, with a strike-rate of 62 despite containing only nine fours.

9. 190 v South Africa, Lord’s, July 6-9, 2017

Captaincy hasn’t always gone smoothly, but it started out pretty well. Root was battling flu, and faced with an attack containing Kagiso Rabada, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander, but still strummed 190 at nearly a run a ball.

8. 254 v Pakistan, Old Trafford, July 22-25, 2016

Perhaps Root’s most flawless innings. In a way, it’s an innings he might rue, given it came at No.3 and suggested he could be a long-term first-drop. With England having lost the opener, this was an important knock, and came against a strong attack.

7. 134 v Australia, Sophia Gardens, July 8-12, 2015

England weren’t given much chance in the 2015 Ashes, after the twin debacles in Australia the two winters hence. Root’s hundred on the first day of the series, while chancey, set the tone for a rollicking win, and despite a pair of London drubbings, England would go on to win 3-2.

6. 130 v Australia, Trent Bridge, August 6-8, 2015

Day one started with Stuart Broad’s 8-15, Australia 60 all out, and the Ashes all but won. Root confirmed there would be no comeback, and by stumps he had doubled Australia’s score by himself. He played beautifully too.

5. 186 v Sri Lanka, Galle, January 22-25, 2021

Given the game situation, this was far superior to his double in the opening game of the series. Sri Lanka had actually batted OK for once, and England were 5-2 when Root walked in. He ended up with well over half the runs to his name, and a second series whitewash in Sri Lanka secured.

4. 124 v Sri Lanka, Pallekele, November 14-18, 2018

The crowning moment of England’s bright but brief ‘Total Cricket’ phase. Root’s dashing knock dragged England from effectively 62-4 to a match-winning lead, and confirmed a series win away from home against good opposition.

3. 109 v India, Trent Bridge, August 4-8, 2021

On the one hand, this is a hundred in a draw which probably would have been a loss without weather intervening. On the other, India’s attack is one of the best Root has tonned up against, and had he failed, the consequences could have been disastrous. England could have been staring at nine more Tests against India and Australia with a malfunctioning batting line-up and in danger of losing all of them. Perhaps they still are, but thanks to Root, it doesn’t feel like that.

2. 110 v South Africa, Johannesburg, January 14-16, 2016

Away from home to win a series against the No.1 side in the world, giving England a slim lead against an attack filled with greats. Very nearly the best there is.

1. 218 v India, Chennai, February 5-9, 2021

Forget what came after it for a second. England’s win in the first Test ranks among their best in the last 30 years, and it was underpinned by Root, in the form of his life. When you remember again what came after it, how badly England struggled, it’s even more remarkable that Root was so dominant against an attack who would end up all over his team.

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