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Former Australia opener Matthew Hayden breathed a sigh of relief on Thursday as he expressed gratitude to England’s Joe Root, who finally ended his century jinx in Australia during the second Ashes Test at the Gabba.
Earlier in the day, England’s premier batter Joe Root finally ended his long wait for a Test century on Australian soil with a fighting hundred on day one of the second Ashes Test at The Gabba.
Coming into the contest under heavy scrutiny after twin failures in Perth, where England were bundled out inside two days, the former captain delivered a statement knock under pressure.
The 34-year-old remained unbeaten at the end of the day’s play with 135 runs scored from 202 balls.
Joe Root, who is also the second-highest run-scorer in Test history, had failed to hit a century on his previous Ashes tours.
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The ace batter had 892 runs to his name at an average of 35.68 with the help of 10 fifties and no centuries in 29 innings played.
For this reason, before the commencement of the Ashes 2025, former Australian cricketers have made bold statements, including Hayden, who had made the most audacious claim.
“I will walk n*de around the MCG if he doesn’t make a hundred this summer,” said Hayden during the All Over Bar The Cricket YouTube podcast.
After Root’s century, Hayden issued a video statement praising the batter, and took a sigh of relief.
“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,” said Hayden.
“I was backing you in for the hundred in a good way. So mate, congratulations 10, fifties and finally a 100. You little ripper, mate. Have a beauty and bloody enjoy it,” he added.
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