England talisman Joe Root scripted history at Lord's on Sunday, becoming the joint-fastest to 10,000 runs in Test cricket. The ex-England skipper struck his 26th hundred in the longest format as the hosts beat New Zealand by five wickets in the first Test of the three-match series. Root breached the 10,000-run barrier in Tests at the age of 31 years & 157 days, matching the legendary Alastair Cook, who took the same number of years and days to reach the milestone.  And his heroics came in for instant praise from the ex-India captain and current Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chief Sourav Ganguly who described him as “an all-time great.”

“Joe Roooooooot ..what a player what a knock under pressure ..an all time great,” Ganguly tweeted.

Sourav Ganguly's words of admiration came after Joe Root produced a century under intense pressure. England were on the ropes on Day 3 at one time, having lost four wickets at the score of 69. However, the Sheffield-born cricketer remained unfazed and rose to the occasion, as he stitched together a 90-run stand with captain Ben Stokes before seeing out the day with another fifty-plus partnership with Ben Foakes.

With another 61 needed on Day 4 to secure England's victory, Joe Root resumed his innings in style, before cruising through to yet another ton in the whites. He was well supported by Ben Foakes who held one end up as Joe Root continued to pile on the misery on the opposition pacers.

In the end, it became all too easy for England as they went 1-0 up in the series.

But Joe Root who was adjudged the Man of the Match for his brilliant innings underplayed his performance, emphasising that more than his century he was enjoying England's victory.

Root was right in many ways, considering England had not tasted a win in a Test match in a long time, having lost the Ashes to Australia 4-0 before suffering the humiliation of losing the series against the West Indies in the Caribbean.

England's tour of the West Indies also turned out to be the last for Joe Root as the Three Lions skipper as he stepped down from that position after returning to the United Kingdom. All-rounder Ben Stokes was handed the reins of the side and has now won his first match as their full-time leader.

“It feels fantastic, more than anything for us to have won this Test match after such a long time. It's been so enjoyable. Hopefully we can use this as a way to step forward,” Root said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

“The number of times Ben has won us Tests under my leadership, it's a great chance for me to give back to him. I love batting. I want to score as many runs as I can and win us as many Test matches as I can. As long as I've got the energy and the drive to do it, I'll do it. I couldn't wish for a better person to be leading this team,” Root added.

Just like Sourav Ganguly, Ben Stokes paid rich tribute to Joe Root before labelling the triumph as “amazing”.

“Amazing. A great Test match. It always seems to be, England vs New Zealand – especially at Lord's. Regardless of being captain, the first Test of the summer always has a special buzz about it. It was a special week with all the build-up and to come away with the win makes it even better,” the England all-rounder said.

“The game ebbed and flowed. It was first innings vs second innings and third innings vs fourth innings, no-one had the upper hand at any stage. Root scoring a hundred and 10,000 runs – what a player, what a man,” Stokes concluded.

New Zealand captain Kane William couldn't agree more with Stokes as he also highlighted the twists and turns in the match.

“The game ebbed and flowed the whole time. We saw how difficult it was when the ball was hard and then how much it changed. Today we came here with high hopes and thought there might be some assistance from the overheads but it wasn't to be,” Williamson said.

“But it was a fantastic game of cricket which took an incredible innings from an amazing player to get them across the line – full credit to England,” he continued.

Kane Williamson also joined Sourav Ganguly and Ben Stokes in hailing Joe Root's achievement, declaring him a special player.

“Truly an unbelievable achievement, recognising the quality of the player and also his longevity,” Williamson said in praise of Root.

The second Test match between the two sides will be played at Trent Bridge in Nottingham next week and Williamson was confident that his side will be able to make a comeback in the series.