Records galore for England as Root blazes his way to become fastest to 13,000 Test runs
Nottingham: England's flamboyant Joe Root shattered South Africa's legendary Jacques Kallis' record for the fastest to 13,000 Test runs and took a step closer towards dethroning India's legendary Sachin Tendulkar from the summit of the highest-run scorer in the format during the opening day of their one-off fixture against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge.
In a high-scoring opening day where England's top-order tormented the tourists, Root wasn't at his best and notched 34 before surrendering his wicket to Blessing Muzarabani. In his 153rd match, Root stepped on the crease, 28 runs shy of the milestone.
In the 80th over of England's first innings, he sprinted for a single off Victor Nyauchi to breeze past the iconic Proteas all-rounder's record, who scripted the milestone to his name in the 159th match, six more than what Root took.
The 34-year-old's exploits came to an end courtesy of Zimbabwe's short-ball ploy. Muzarabani hit the deck and lured the English star to pull the ball away. Root couldn't control the trajectory and holed it straight to Sean Williams.
As he returned to the dressing room, wondering if he had left runs on the field, Root became just the fifth batter to cross 13,000 runs in Test format. After adding another feather to his cap, Root stands 2,916 runs away from Sachin's elusive tally of 15,921.
Throughout the opening day, Zimbabwe, hot on the heels after a Test win over Bangladesh, were tormented by England's 'Bazball' playing top-order after opting to bowl on a dry surface. Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley pounced on every loose delivery under Nottingham's cloudy skies.
At exactly run a ball, Duckett brought up his fifth Test hundred. Crawley arrived at the three-digit mark for the first time since July 2023 and 28 innings ago. Crawley and Duckett expressed their knack for runs and raised a rollicking opening stand worth 231, England's highest at home since 1960.
After Wesley Madhevere confirmed Duckett's departure, Ollie Pope arrived and added the trimmings with his third hundred in as many games at Trent Bridge. England ended the day with 498/3 on the board, the highest they have in England on the opening day. At stumps, Pope stayed unbeaten on 169 from 163 deliveries as England welcomed Zimbabwe on their soil after 22 years with a bashing.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Observer
14 hours ago
- Observer
Netherlands beat Finland to keep WC qualifier on track
BARCELONA: England kept their World Cup qualifying on track with an ugly 1-0 win while Austria and the Netherlands made belated starts to their campaigns with victories on Saturday. Harry Kane's 72nd international goal ensured England avoided the ultimate embarrassment of failing to beat Andorra. Even so, Thomas Tuchel's side were booed off in Barcelona after struggling to impress against a team ranked 173rd in the world. Tuchel is the first England manager to win his first three competitive games without conceding a goal. But given the paucity of opposition provided by Andorra, Latvia and Albania in the Group K qualifiers, that achievement rings a little hollow after this miserable display. "I'm not happy with the performance. We completely lost the momentum and couldn't get it back. We ended up in a place that was not good enough in terms of urgency," Tuchel said. "We can just admit it that it's not what we expect from us. I was most worried in the last 20 minutes because I didn't like the attitude we ended the game with. "I didn't like the lack of urgency. It did not match the occasion. It is still a World Cup qualifier." England pulled five points clear after three matches in Group K as second-placed Albania drew 0-0 at home with Serbia. Rey Manaj of Albania wasted a penalty in first-half added time. Serbia was one of three teams playing their first qualifying match on Saturday after they had been involved in Nations League playoffs. Netherlands made their debut with a crisp 2-0 win over Finland in Helsinki. Memphis Depay scored after six minutes. Denzil Dumfries, one week after his unhappy experience playing for Inter Milan in the Champions League final, added the second after 23 minutes. Netherlands jumped to third in Group G, overtaking Lithuania and Malta who drew 0-0. The Dutch are one point behind Finland and three behind leaders Poland who did not play. Marcel Sabitzer and Michael Gregoritsch scored as Austria beat Romania 2-1 in Vienna. Florin Tanase headed an added-time reply for the visitors who had squandered several chances in the closing stages. Bosnia-Herzegovina lead Group H on nine points after Edin Dzeko scored the only goal in a 1-0 victory home over San Marino. Romania, Cyprus and Austria all have three points.
Observer
2 days ago
- Observer
England beat West Indies in T20 opener
CHESTER-LE-STREET, United Kingdom: Jos Buttler produced a captain's innings in his first T20 appearance since giving up the post as he and the recalled Liam Dawson guided England to a 21-run victory over the West Indies at Chester-le-Street on Friday. Buttler, who helped new white-ball skipper Harry Brook seal a 3-0 sweep in the preceding one-day international series, underlined his standing as one of the world's best white-ball batsmen with a blistering 96 off just 59 balls in a total of 188-6. Veteran left-arm spinner Dawson, returning to England duty after almost three years in the international wilderness, followed up with a T20 international best 4-20 as the West Indies were held to 167-9 while going 1-0 down in a three-match series. Earlier, Buttler took centre stage following the early loss of opener Ben Duckett with an array of reverse sweeps, ramps and more traditional straight drives while hitting six fours and four sixes. But he fell four shy of a century when lbw to paceman Alzarri Joseph, whose four overs cost an expensive 51 runs. Brook gave Dawson the new ball and the 35-year-old responded by having Johnson Charles, who misread a slower delivery, stumped by Buttler. England bowled 12 overs of spin, with Adil Rashid and Jacob Bethell in the wickets. Brook said his decision to opt for so much slow bowling was influenced by next year's T20 World Cup being staged in India and Sri Lanka, where the pitches are renowned for aiding spinners. "The next World Cup is going to be in Sri Lanka and India. We're not completely set on this structure for the team but it's worth a go and it worked this time," said Brook, a 26-year-old Yorkshire batsman. Dawson, repeatedly overlooked by England for spinners with inferior county records, also snared Sherfane Rutherford, Roston Chase and Rovman Powell as the West Indies slumped to defeat. "He bowled beautifully," said Brook. "He's got so many skills." The West Indies were frustrated by the absence of a left-arm spinner of their own, with Akeal Hosein yet to arrive following delays related a change in UK visa requirements for Trinidad and Tobago. Cricket West Indies said "attempts to expedite the visa process" had been unsuccessful but a team spokesperson confirmed Friday the 32-year-old could arrive ahead of Tuesday's finale in Southampton. "He was missed, he's one of our frontline players. It's an unfortunate situation," said West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder. Nevertheless, he added: "We had a team that was good enough to beat England but we fell a little short, particularly with the bat." The series continues at Bristol on Sunday. Brief scores: England: 188-6 in 20 overs (J Buttler 96; R Shepherd 2-33) West Indies: 167-9 in 20 overs (L Dawson 4-20) Result: England won by 21 runs Series: England lead three-match series 1-0
Times of Oman
5 days ago
- Times of Oman
Cummins confirms Steve Smith's batting position for Australia's WTC final
Melbourne: Australian skipper Pat Cummins said that star batter Steve Smith will be batting at number four during the much-anticipated ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final against South Africa at the Lord's. With the ICC World Test Championship Final 2025 fast approaching and set for June 11, Australia have zeroed in on an important batting decision. With multiple alternatives in contention to take the centre-stage, skipper Cummins has named batting icon Steve Smith to occupy a crucial spot in the middle order. In a recent conversation with The Grade Cricketer on Prime Video Australia, Cummins stated as quoted by ICC, "I can confirm that Smudge will be batting at four. Everyone else, I am not willing to, but I can confirm Steve Smith will be number four." Smith, who has batted most of his Test career at number four, boasts 6531 runs from 120 Test innings at the slot, averaging 61.61. This includes 23 centuries and 26 fifties. The veteran batter had also starred in Australia's triumph in the previous WTC Final in 2023, scoring a first-innings century that helped set the tone for a big win. As they prepare to defend the WTC mace, Cummins opened up on the prospect of becoming the first team to do so since the inception of the tournament in 2019. "After winning in 2023, there is a lot of talk of trying to retain it. Go and defend it. It is not tangible until you actually make the final," he said. "Now that we have made it, it will be pretty cool to win another ICC trophy. Playing at Lord's, it is a tournament that every other Test-playing nation is vying for so, it just signifies a pretty good couple of years," Cummins said. The Australian captain also highlighted the significance of the tournament and the challenges it presented. "I think it shows performance over two years. But there are varying conditions. Even in ICC World Cups, it is normally very similar conditions," he said. "A Test tournament, you have got to go and win basically everything at home, but for us, we had to go to Sri Lanka and win in tough spinning conditions," Pat Cummins said. "Go over to New Zealand, and beat a really strong side at home. So, I think it shows that you have really got to be a complete team over a couple-year stretch to make the final," he said. "We just missed out that first year (2019-2021), but I think we are a better side now than we were back then. We lost a couple of games at home. But, yeah, I think two (WTC titles) would be incredible. One, I think, is still a pretty good demonstration of how good we've been over the past few years," the Australian captain said. While Australia will be featuring in their second successive WTC final, South Africa made it to their first by topping the World Test Championship standings. Cummins showered praise on the Proteas, and believes the Temba Bavuma-led side has multiple match-winners in their midst to pose a challenge. "They always seem to compete in every tournament. They have got a lot of experience, especially the white-ball teams - they play across different franchise leagues. Rabada, Maharaj, Bavuma, they have played a lot of cricket over the years," said the Aussie skipper. "They have really good fast bowlers, they always seem to have not just one or two main guys but they have got four-six guys they can call," he said. "And yeah, some batters, you have not seen much (of them), but they have scored plenty of domestic runs. (We have) played most of the guys in the squad, certainly not everyone. There is always a little bit of mystique around South Africa, because we do not play them as often as, say India," he concluded
