Joe Root smashed his 20th ODI century in the third ODI between Sri Lanka and England. It was a master class from the English batter. This was his ninth century against Sri Lanka across formats and 61st century overall across formats. Joe Root came in to bat at 19/1 in the seventh over after the dismissal of Ben Duckett. He maintained a good tempo throughout the innings scoring his half century in 54 balls. Root brought up his century in 100 balls which included eight fours and a six. He brought up the milestone with a single and the celebrations followed.

This has been a terrific series for the ace right hander so far. Joe Root made a quality 75 in the previous match as England pulled off a comfortable run chase to beat Sri Lanka by five wickets in the second one-day international to square the three-match series. Even in the opening match of the series he scored a half century and now in the third match he has managed to convert it to a big one and helped his side post a big total while batting first.

During this knock Joe Root also went past 7500 ODI runs and he is playing his 189th ODI. He has an average of more than 50 and has been a terrific batter in this format. His scores this series has been 61 in the opening match, 75 in the second match and now a century in third match.

This was Joe Root’s 20th ODI century and his 61st overall in international cricket. He has continued where he left off in the last year. In 2025, Root played 15 ODI matches where he scored 808 runs at a remarkable average of 57.71 (3 tons and 4 half-centuries). Root played with a higher strike rate of 95.50 than usual. His career-best ODI score also came in 2025 (166* vs West Indies). Joe Root ended 2025 as the highest run getter in ODIs with 808 runs at a stunning average of 56. This has been a sensational century from Joe Root and he has put England in a very strong position at the halfway mark as they get to a total of more than 300