Joe Root's stunning knock takes England to series win over West Indies

Independent

4 days ago

Joe Root starred with a majestic unbeaten 166 as England ended a run of four one-day series defeats in a row by beating West Indies by three wickets at Sophia Gardens.
After a ragged display in the field with four dropped catches and two missed run-outs which allowed the Windies to post 308 all out, led by Keacy Carty's 103, England were reeling on 133 for five in reply.
But Root thumped two sixes and 21 fours, putting on 143 in 121 balls alongside Will Jacks, who made a vital 49, to lift England into an unassailable 2-0 lead in the Metro Bank series.
The Yorkshireman, who leapfrogged Eoin Morgan to become England's all-time leading ODI run-scorer during his 139-ball innings, helped England claim a first ODI series win since September 2023.
Brandon King (59) and Shai Hope (78) backed up Carty but England fought back thanks to four for 63 from Adil Rashid and Saqib Mahmood's three for 37 as the Windies lost their last eight wickets for 103.
It seemed their total would be enough to set up a decider at the Kia Oval on Tuesday but Root's 18th ODI hundred and his highest score in the format got England over the line with seven balls to spare.
His efforts were all the more remarkable after England lost three of their top five for ducks, including both openers as Jamie Smith pushed hard and nicked off and Ben Duckett flashed to deep third.
It capped a forgettable day for the usually reliable Duckett, who shelled two catches and botched a run-out, but Root and Harry Brook, the top two ranked Test batters, got the scoreboard moving along.
Both batters had moments of fortune as Root survived a close lbw review on umpire's call alone on seven off Matthew Forde while, from the next ball, Brook was spilled on 30 by Hope off Jayden Seales.
Root could also have been run-out on nought and 30 but Brook's luck ran out on 47 after top-edging to Seales off Alzarri Joseph, who then hurried Jos Buttler into dragging on to his stumps for a duck.
After Jacob Bethell fell lbw to Roston Chase for 17, England were down to their last two frontline batters, but Root accumulated steadily and showed his class with a sumptuous on-drive off Seales.
He brought up a wonderful 98-ball hundred with back-to-back boundaries, rocking back into his crease and slamming Gudakesh Motie for six before expertly sweeping the slow left-armer behind square for four.
Root continued on his merry way, with Chase targeted relentlessly and Justin Greaves going the distance but Jacks departed with 33 required after being deceived by a Joseph off-cutter and pinned lbw.
Root, though, moved past 150 for the first time in ODIs and fittingly hit the winning runs – a straight four off Seales – to give Brook his first series win since becoming full-time white-ball captain.
England had won more convincingly at Edgbaston on Thursday but they were off the boil at Cardiff early on after winning the toss.
Brydon Carse bowled better than figures of one for 59 suggest as edges off Carty, on one, and King, on 11, were spilled by Duckett at second slip.
Carty was also dropped on 41 by Mahmood and could have been run-out twice but was allowed to regain his ground as an off-balance Bethell threw waywardly and later Duckett under-armed to the wrong end.
While Carty went to three figures, he walked past a straight one off part-timer Jacks and was stumped, with the Windies failing to recover the momentum.
They had been 170 for two after 30 overs but while Hope, dropped on 73 by Root, ploughed a lone furrow, they lost wickets at regular intervals – led by Rashid and Mahmood – as hopes of a 350 total vanished.