Joe Root performed brilliantly with the ODI batting to help England remain unbeaten on 99 off 133 balls to chase down 234 in the second ODI. When the wicket fell to him, the veteran stood firm and played a composed knock filled with nine boundaries to guide England home with the calmness and confidence that had defined his one-day career.Root’s play earned high praise from former India captain and head coach Anil Kumble, who compared the England stalwart’s importance to his team to that of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma for the Indian team.“Joe Root is to England what Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are to India. Root is the only batsman in the England team who still plays with the old-school ODI mentality. Other batsmen attacked from the beginning, but Root took his time, stabilized the innings and brought calmness to the chase,” Kumble told JioHotstar. “His ability to spin and find space makes him very reliable. You know he’s not going to take a dangerous shot at the wrong time. That kind of game awareness is priceless,” he said. Kamble also highlighted the similarities between Root, Kohli and Rohit, saying the trio’s success stemmed from their ability to score runs consistently while minimizing risks.“The reason why Root, Kohli and Rohit are so successful is that their run-scoring looks effortless. They don’t premeditate. They react to the ball. They play low-risk, high-reward cricket, not high-risk, high-reward cricket. When you have that class, grace and mentality, life becomes easier for the entire team,” he added.
Root easily chases the target
India wasted a commanding position after being asked to bat first at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff. Despite a solid 114 between Virat Kohli (65) and Shreyas Iyer (66) to take the visitors to 180/3, a dramatic mid-order collapse resulted in them losing their last seven wickets for 53 and being bowled out for 233. Jofra Archer (3/47) and Gus Atkinson (3/50) performed well with the ball while Jasprit Bumrah’s unbeaten 20 helped India cross the 230-run mark.England’s chase got off to a disastrous start with Jasprit Bumrah removing Ben Duckett on the first ball of the innings before Prasidh Krishna reduced the hosts to 8/2. However, Joe Root sealed the chase with a brilliant 99 off 133 balls* and received valuable support from Will Jacks (30), Sam Curran (26) and Gus Atkinson (23)*. Atkinson hit the winning boundary to seal the four-wicket victory, leaving Root agonizingly short of a century.The three-match ODI series is leveled 1-1 and the decider will be played at Lord’s on July 19.
