Browsing: Joe

Ben Duckett, Joe Root steer England to all-time classic victory over India in first Test

England take a 1-0 lead in their best-of-five series with India with a near-miraculous run chase to record a five-wicket victory over India at Headingley.

England have pulled off one of the all-time great Test match victories in earning a five-wicket win over India at Headingley.

Tasked with chasing down 371, Ben Stokes‘s side made relatively light work of their target for one of the highest run chases in history.

Not only did it represent the second highest chase in England’s Test history, it was the first time that a team with five individual hundreds had ever suffered a defeat in a Test match.

Most importantly, a 1-0 lead has been established in the best-of-five series, India left with much to ponder after they were once on 430-3 in their first innings.

Starting on 21-0, Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett set the tone with a majestic opening partnership of 188, India only making the breakthrough shortly after a rain delay.

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While Crawley went for 65, Duckett continued along his merry way, reaching 149 from 170 deliveries that featured 21 fours and one six.

Harry Brook being dismissed for a first-ball duck set the cat amongst the pigeons, Shardul Thakur’s double salvo leaving England on 253-4 and still requiring 118 runs.

Stokes and Joe Root would steady the ship, the skipper making 33 from 51 balls before his exit from the scene of his greatest moment six years ago.

Root, as you would expect, stood firm and along with Jamie Smith, whose composure exceeded his minimal experience at this level, got England home with wickets and time to spare.

On his home ground, Root made 53 from 84 and Smith 44 from 55, two sixes coming off what proved to be the final over as England made 373-5 at a run-rate of 4.54, adding yet another chapter into the Baz-ball folklore.

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Afghanistan dump England out of ICC Trophy as record-breaking Ibrahim Zadran upstages Joe Root

England are dumped out of the ICC Champions Trophy with a game to spare as Afghanistan pull off one of their most famous wins courtesy of Ibrahim Zadran’s record-breaking knock.

England have been dumped out of the ICC Champions Trophy by Afghanistan after agonisingly falling short in their effort to chase down 326.

Ibrahim Zadran produced the highest-ever knock in the competition’s history, hitting 177 as Afghanistan rallied from a poor start to make 325-7 off their 50 overs.

Joe Root responded with a century of his own, making 120, but it was all in vain as Afghanistan closed out one of their most famous wins by an eight-run margin, eliminating England with a game to spare.

While Afghanistan need to beat Australia to progress through to the semi-finals, England will be merely playing for pride when they meet South Africa.

How did match pan out?

Despite having lost the toss, England would have fancied their chances of prevailing in Lahore, their hopes bolstered by Jofra Archer reducing Afghanistan to 37-3.

However, Ibrahim stood firm to produce one of the greatest innings in one-day international history, the 23-year-old hitting 177 from 146 balls in an innings that featured 12 fours and six maximums.

Liam Livingstone dismissed the opener in the final over, yet it was too little too late. Hashmatullah Shahidi (40), Azmatullah Omarzai (41) and Mohammad Nabi (40) all supported Zadran to take Afghanistan to an imposing total.

The fast start to their reply that England required did not materialise, Phil Salt (12) and Jamie Smith (9) out by 6.1 overs, and it left the remainder of the order with an uphill task.

Root did his part, lasting almost three hours for his 120 from 111 deliveries, but Harry Brook (25) and Jos Buttler (38) were only at the crease for 63 balls between them.

Jamie Overton chipped away for 32 from 28, but wickets were falling at regular intervals, Omarzai posting figures of 5-58.

His final wicket came from the penultimate ball, England left eight runs short and facing the criticism that will follow with Buttler to contemplate what could prove to be his final game as ODI captain.

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Joe Root makes Test history as England close in on Pakistan’s 556

Joe Root becomes England’s all-time leading Test run scorer as he and Harry Brook move their side to within 64 runs of Pakistan’s first innings total of 556 in Multan.

Joe Root has become England‘s all-time highest Test run scorer on a day where he helped his side move into a potentially-winning position against Pakistan.

With the hosts scoring 556 runs in their first innings in Multan, it appeared they had put themselves into a position where they could not lose the game.

However, England reaching 492-3 at stumps on day three has set up the possibility of a result, providing the tourists can kick on over the remaining six sessions on what is an extremely flat pitch.

The day belonged to Root, however, who surpassed Sir Alistair Cook as England’s highest-ever run scorer in the long format of the game, as well as moving to fifth in the all-time list as he put together an unbeaten 176.

Cook had accumulated 12,472 runs from 161 matches, but Root ended play on Wednesday with 12,575 runs in what is his 147th Test outing.

Root bats all day

Throughout the second half of the day, the 33-year-old began to heavily cramp, particularly when he was attempting sweep shots in sweltering conditions.

Perhaps most impressively, the temptation was not there to go all-out attack, leaving that to Ben Duckett who made 84 from 75 and Harry Brook who also batted at a pace after his dismissal.

Brook deserves as much credit as Root does for their performances on Wednesday having scored at a strike-rate of 81.5 to compile his unbeaten 141 from 173.

Their fourth-wicket partnership, the biggest ever for England against Pakistan, has now reached 243 runs from 51.2 overs, and they will each have their sights set on a double hundred.

The priority, however, will be to guide England into a sizeable lead to give them a chance to bowl Pakistan out on the final day of a Test match that has only seen 13 wickets in three days.

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Joe Root surpasses Sir Alistair Cook as England’s greatest-ever Test run scorer

Joe Root becomes England’s all-time highest run scorer in Test cricket with his knock in the first innings of the first Test match against Pakistan.

Joe Root has surpassed Sir Alistair Cook to become England‘s highest-ever run scorer in Test cricket.

The 33-year-old has been gradually making his way up the all-time list in recent months, moving into sixth place during the summer.

That put the Yorkshire batsman on the brink of finally overtaking Cook, who was fifth on that aforementioned list with his 12,472 runs from 161 matches.

On a flat batting pitch in Multan, the first Test match with Pakistan this week represented an opportunity for Root to etch his name in England history with a feat that will realistically stand the test of time.

When on 67 on the third day’s play, Root sent a straight drive past bowler Aamer Jamal to break the record in front of what is a relatively-sparse crowd.

Why Root is the greatest

While the moment would have been more fitting had it taken place in front of a packed England support earlier this year, Root will be delighted to officially become England’s greatest batsman in history.

He brought up this feat in 14 fewer Test matches and 23 fewer innings than Cook, his average in the region of 51 while Cook ended on 45.35.

Root may have recorded more ducks than Cook – 12 to nine – but he has more fifties, centuries and sixes in comparison to the fellow former captain.

However, Root has some way to go to move any higher on the all-time list with India’s Rahul Dravid just under 800 runs ahead of him in fourth position.

What is the current state of play against Pakistan?

Midway through day three, England were sitting on 286-3, still trailing Pakistan’s first-innings total of 556 by 270 runs.

Root remained unbeaten on 86 from 148 deliveries, with Harry Brook hitting a run-a-ball 32 since replacing Ben Duckett after his teammate’s 84 from 75 balls.

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Joe Root guides England to first Test victory over valiant Sri Lanka

England take a 1-0 lead in their best-of-three series with Sri Lanka by recording a five-wicket victory in the first Test at Old Trafford.

England have chased down a target of 205 to record a five-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the first Test at Old Trafford.

Even in the absence of the injured Ben Stokes, England had been expected to make light work of a Sri Lanka side that does not possess the same star power as years gone by.

However, Kamindu Mendis‘s outstanding 113 left the hosts with plenty to think about on the fourth day, before Joe Root showcased his class to get England over the line with a day to spare.

Resuming on 204-6 with a lead of 82, Sri Lanka were aware of the size of the task in front of them if they were to remain competitive, yet Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal frustrated England during the morning session.

The pair survived the 135-minute session and took Sri Lanka past 300, only for Mendis to fall soon after lunch for 113 off the bowling of Gus Atkinson.

Mendis and Chandimal’s resilience was undone as the rest of the innings was wrapped up in just over four overs, Chandimal the last man to be dismissed for 79.

Matthew Potts came away with figures of 3-47 after a frustrating summer playing a waiting game, and it set England up with a target that they could chase down without the need of a fifth day.

England survive nervy start

With Ben Duckett (11) and Ollie Pope (six) out by the 12.5-over mark, England found themselves in a game, and Dan Lawrence‘s dismissal for 34 left his team on 70-3.

By this point, Root was at the crease, yet he remained disciplined as Harry Brook put together 32 from 68 in a 49-run partnership for the fourth wicket.

Jamie Smith, after his century in the first innings, added 39 from 48 to put England to within touching distance, allowing Root to go at a pedestrian pace and make an unbeaten 62 from 128 balls that featured just two boundaries.

Stand-in skipper Pope was quick to laud Root as “a greedy Yorkshireman” after the game as he continued to chase down sixth spot in the all-time Test run scorers that is currently held by Sri Lanka legend Kumar Sangakkara, who is 269 runs ahead.

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