It was described as the work of a "genius" and a "magician", but how special was Joe Root's century against New Zealand?

Fans, commentators and pundits alike were purring with appreciation after the former skipper stroked 176 from just 211 deliveries to help England close in on the tourists.

On the fourth day, he gave everyone a good time.

He played a reverse scoop shot off Tim Southee that went over the slip cordon for a six.

It was the icing on the cake of a long day of cricket. Everything came out of the middle and raced to the edge.

He reached his century from just 116 balls, the fastest of his 27 in Tests, and it was the 10th time he has reached three figures.

It included a 187-run stand with Ollie Pope at nearly 4.5 runs an over that formed the bedrock of England's reply before cutting loose with BenStokes as 61 runs were added from just 56 balls - an early sign of the new, bold attacking approach demanded by new England head coach

He and Ben Foakes formed a partnership on the fourth day of the Test. As the boundary followed, it was fearless theater.

The six off Southee was just remarkable. One of the best shots I have ever seen.

The former England bowler said that Joe Root was like a Magician. He was waving his wand. He ordered the ball to go where he wanted it to go. A huge amount of time.

Sir Alastair Cook, who has scored more Test runs than any other England batter in the history of the game, was happy with his performance. Someone is at work. It was great to see that.

'Talk of a batting masterclass is a bit OTT'

Though not everyone was buying into the hype surrounding the knock, cricket fans who were following the action via a live text, Test Match Special and with in-play clips on theBBC Sport website were certainly animated by it.

Is it possible to rein in the hyperbole over the first half of the game? He skied one safe on 52 after hitting one between the slips on 20. It's great to see him make big runs, even on an absolute road like this one, but talk of a batting masterclasses is a bit OTT.

Zarina asked if the person was a bit hangry. How can you ignore such a great performance? The Test champion is New Zealand.

There was also a healthy dose of sarcasm from Charlie, who said: "Brian Lara's so-called'masterclass' of 501, he wasbowled off a no ball and dropped early on, he was completely agree withJulian, let's not forget." Average amount of time spent in a game.

It was pointed out by others that New Zealand's Daryl Mitchell scored more runs than New Zealand's Joe Root in New Zealand's firstinning.

Has we gone too far about the fact that Root isn't the game's top scorer and didn't get the job done this morning by steering us to a first-innings lead?

How does Root's innings compare?

There was a debate about which is England's greatest ever, with former captain Sir Alastair Cook giving a few examples.

Graham Gooch played in a game against the West Indies. Kevin Pietersen had a 180 at Mumbai. He believes that Root's one here is a good one.

Michael Atherton's 185 against South Africa in 1995 and his nerve-shredding clash with Allan Donald three years later were some of the suggestions made by viewers of the show.

Mark Butcher's 173 not out against the same opposition in 2001 and Graham Gooch's 333 against India in 1990 are two examples of popular choices.

We narrowed it down to the last ten years and came up with six choices, which you can rank below.