Root’s half-century came with a flick off his pads that found the fence. It took only 56 deliveries to complete. As the game progressed, he grew stronger and stronger. When he was batting on 93, he did not hesitate to use the reverse sweep. It brought him a boundary. When he reached 99, Root followed one pitched slightly outside off stump.
It took an under-edge and luckily went past the wicketkeeper for a boundary through the fine leg region. Root scored a century for the 27th time in his Test career. This one came off 116 balls, his fastest so far, and came on the heels of a match-winning tonne in his previous innings.
Root made certain that he crossed the 150-run mark with a boundary, just as he did when he was approaching his 50th and 100th runs. He appeared to be pleasantly surprised by his recent run of good form.
Then, the next morning, something unexpected happened that caught everyone off guard. Root reverse scooped a Tim Southee delivery for a sixer over the third-man boundary on the very first ball he faced. He eventually got out at 176 after being outsmarted by a Trent Boult slower catch at cover.
In the first innings, England was all out for 539. For England, the Kiwis set a target of 299 runs. After a few hiccups, the hosts won the Test by five wickets thanks to a brilliant century from Jonny Bairstow in their second innings.
Root couldn’t do much in his second essay after being dismissed so easily. However, his first-innings performance was crucial in ensuring the victory, which gave England an unassailable lead in the three-match series. He was named Man of the Series for his outstanding batting performance.
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A lot of Grit and Determination
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Image Source – Twitter.
Root batted for 86 runs in the third and final Test against New Zealand and remained unbeaten. It came in the fourth innings when England was chasing a 296-run target. In that innings, teammate Bairstow smashed an unbeaten 71 runs off 44 balls.
In the rescheduled fifth Test against India, Root and Bairstow strung together a match-winning unbroken partnership of 269. Root, on the other hand, got off to a bad start this time. England were 109/2, chasing 378 when Root made a terrible decision to run.
It resulted in the dismissal of opener Alex Lees, who was on 56 at the time. But, being the unstoppable force that he is, Root was not deterred. He went on to score 142 runs unbeaten. Root’s post-captaincy career as an international cricketer could not have begun on a better note.
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Taking domination to the next level
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Image Source – Twitter.
Even as captain of the England team, Root achieved incredible feats with the bat. He hit 14 centuries and compiled a total of 5295 runs at an average of 46.44. He was simply incredible in 2021. He ran 1,708 runs, including two double centuries.
He recently passed the 10,000-run mark, becoming only the second English batter to do so after Alastair Cook. Root has dominated the scene despite the fact that the rest of the Fab Four of modern-day cricket is running out of runs. It’s not just the number of runs Root has scored. The manner in which he obtained those runs is equally fascinating.
In terms of approach, his batting has evolved with each innings. He was always a technically sound willow craftsman. There are already whispers that Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 15,921 runs is within reach for him. If and when that day comes, it will be a huge accomplishment.
