Joe Root scored completed his 40th Test century and his first one in Australia on Day 1 of the second Ashes Test at Brisbane. His century delighted former Matthew Hayden, who humorously promised to run naked if Root failed to score.
Hayden’s congratulatory video, shared by England Cricket on X, went viral. “Good day, Joe. Congratulations, mate, on the hundred here in Australia. Took you a while, and there was no one that had more skin in the game than me, literally,” the 54-year-old former Australian batter said.
Watch the video below
Grace Hayden “relived” after Root century
Soon after Root completed his century there was a post shared on Instagram by Grace Hayden who is the daughter of Matthew Hayden. On her latest story, she said: “Root, thank you, you’ve saved all our eyes.”
Hayden’s daughter is a sports presenter in Australia and a content creator as well, with 562,000 Instagram followers. She has also worked with Star Sports during the IPL. Matthew Hayden also added “There are two people who will be more relieved than anyone else: that’s my wife and my daughter. I was counting down the innings, and I was a bit nervous.”
Joe Root came into bat when England were 5/2 and player a masterclass despite wickets falling at the other end. He went unbeaten at the end of the day on 135 runs of 232 balls which included 12 fours as England finished on 325/9. Root and Archer will be keen to add some more runs on Day 2.
