Joe Root has passed 12,000 Test runs and leapfrogged the great Brian Lara in the all-time list of leading scorers as England battled towards parity with the West Indies on the second day of the third Test at Edgbaston.
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The West Indies made a stirring start as they looked to carve a lead out of their first-innings score of 282, taking two early wickets to leave England in trouble at 5-54.
At tea England were just eight behind on 7-274, thanks in large part to their former captain.
Root stopped the rot, sharing a stand of 115 with current captain Ben Stokes and ticking off his latest set of milestones with a disciplined 87.
His 14th run took him past Lara's career mark of 11,953 Test runs, seeing off one of Caribbean cricket's greats as he frustrated the current crop, and his 60th made him the seventh player in history to reach 12,000.
Root is the only active player on that list and it is only a matter of time before he overhauls fifth-placed Sir Alastair Cook's 12,472 to become the top-scoring Englishman.
He was teased out by Gudakesh Motie in sight of a 33rd Test century.
Australian Associated Press
