Lone test

Lone Test: Experienced batter Joe Root scored 34 on the opening day of the lone Test against Zimbabwe and in the process became the fastest batter to reach 13,000 runs in red-ball cricket here on Thursday.

Root reached the milestone of 13,000 runs, becoming only the fifth batter ever to do so in his 153rd Test, scoring 13,006 runs in 279 innings at an average of 50.80. He has scored 36 hundreds and 65 half-centuries with a highest score of 262.

Root is fifth in the list of most run scorers in the history of the game behind Sachin Tendulkar (15921), Ricky Ponting (13378), Jacques Kallis (13289) and Rahul Dravid (13288). The 34-year-old Root is the highest scorer for England in red-ball cricket, with Alistair Cook second with 12472 runs in 134 matches.