Galle, Jan 25 (IANS): England skipper Joe Root has gone past Kevin Pietersen and David Gower to become the fourth-highest run-getter for his country in Test cricket.

On Sunday, Root played a 186-run knock, with the help of 18 boundaries, during England's first innings in the second Test against Sri Lanka at the Galle International Stadium.

The right-handed batsman has amassed 8,238 Test runs in 180 innings he has played so far and is fourth on the list of leading run-getters for England.

Former captain Alastair Cook is the all-time highest run-getter for England with 12,472 Test runs in 161 matches he played. He is followed by Graham Gooch, who has 8,900 runs. Alec Stewart comes third in the list with 8,463 runs.

Root is followed by Gower (8,231) and Pietersen (8,181).

Overall, former India batsman Sachin Tendulkar holds the record for being the highest run-scorer in Test cricket. Tendulkar scored 15,921 runs in 200 Test matches he played for India.

He is followed by Ricky Ponting (13,378), Jacques Kallis (13,289) and Rahul Dravid (13,288).

After the culmination of the two-Test series against Sri Lanka, the Joe Root-led side will face India in a four-match Test series beginning February 5 in Chennai.