With a stylish century in the first Test match against New Zealand at Lord’s on Sunday, England batsman Joe Root led his team to victory. Root became the 14th cricketer to reach 10,000 runs in the longest format, and only the second Englishman after Sir Alastair Cook. Meanwhile, a video of Root’s bat standing still has gone viral on social media.
Video Of Joe Root Levitating Bat Has Gone Viral
During a match-winning century against New Zealand at Lord’s on Sunday, Joe Root became only the second England batter to reach 10,000 Test runs. The 31-year-old Yorkshireman may have stepped down as captain, but his knack for scoring runs appears to have remained unaffected. His composed 115 not out guided England, who were struggling at 69 for four, to a 277-run target, as the hosts beat the World Test champions by five wickets with more than a day to spare.
Root is by far England’s best batter right now, and his century was the difference between the two teams at the ‘Home of Cricket.’ It wasn’t just that, though. Root’s bat-balancing ‘magic’ at the non-striker’s end immediately went viral on Twitter. His bat can be seen standing on its own in a widely circulated video on the social media platform, perplexing users.
I knew @root66 was talented but not as magic as this……. What is this sorcery? @SkyCricket #ENGvNZ 🏏 pic.twitter.com/yXdhlb1VcF
— Ben Joseph (@Ben_Howitt) June 5, 2022
Coming to the match, New Zealand won the toss and decided to bat first. In the first innings, the Kiwis were bowled out for 132 runs, with Colin de Grandhomme scoring 42 off 50 balls to lead the side. In his first match back for England, James Anderson took four wickets. Matthew Potts, who made his debut, also took four wickets. Both Ben Stokes and Stuart Broad took one wicket.
In the second innings, New Zealand made a strong comeback to bowl England out for just 141 runs. Aside from Alex Lees (25), Zak Crawley (43), and Joe Root (11), no other batters managed to reach double figures. Trent Boult took three wickets, while Tim Southee claimed four. Kyle Jamieson and Colin de Grandhomme, respectively, took two and one wickets.
In the second innings, New Zealand scored 285 runs thanks to Daryl Mitchell’s century of 108 runs off 203 balls. In the third innings of the game, Tom Blundell scored 96 off 198 balls to help New Zealand reach the massive total.
Root hit a century for England, which helped them easily chase down the total. In his first Test as captain, Ben Stokes also contributed with an impressive half-century. For his outstanding batting performance, Root was named the player of the match.
