After having already brought up his 27th Test hundred on Day 3 of the second Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge, Joe Root grabbed eyeballs with a jaw dropping six off Tim Southee.
England resumed Day 3 of the Trent Bridge Test at an overnight 473/6, with Joe Root and Ben Foakes unbeaten at 163 and 24 respectively. The pair began with internet from the word go, with Foakes getting two fours and a triple in the first over of the day bowled by Tim Southee.
However, it was Root, the man at the peak of his powers, grabbing the attention of everyone present at the venue with a jaw-droppin hit similar to what Rishabh Pant did against James Anderson -(when Root was at first slip) in India last year. As Southee ran in to bowl the first ball of his next over, Root reverse scooped the right-arm quick for a fine six over the slips, much to the amazement of Foakes, the commentators and the spectators present.
Southee continued to face the brunt of an attacking batting display, with Foakes taking him for three more boundaries in the next over, the second of which got the wicketkeeper batter to his second Test fifty.
A quiet start to the morning in Nottingham…
Scorecard & Videos: https://t.co/GJPwJC59J7
🏴 #ENGvNZ 🇳🇿 pic.twitter.com/Fjz96fl2SZ
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 13, 2022
However, the former England captain couldn’t carry for much long, driving one straight to Southee at extra-cover off Trent Boult, with the left-arm quick getting his fourth wicket of the innings.
It was Root’s 10th Test hundred since the start of 2021, in six of which, including the most recent knock, he surpassed 150, with two doubles. He now has five hundreds from his last six home Tests. He also surpassed Sunil Gavaskar’s tally of 10,122 Test runs in the process, after having entered the 10,000-run club during his match-winning fourth-innings hundred at Lord’s last week.
Reverse Sweep by Pant in Anderson bowling 😭😂
#INDvENG pic.twitter.com/Qm4zZyQK7E— COC (@Controversyy3) March 5, 2021
Stuart Broad fell to Michael Bracewell not long after, while Foakes was run out for 56 after a mix up with Matthew Potts. Boult then bowled Potts to register his 10th Test five-for. England were 530/9 at the time of writing, with Jack Leach and James Anderson at the crease.
Earlier, Ollie Pope scored 145 – his second Test hundred – with fine support from Alex Lees (67) and Root to lead England’s solid response on Day 3. That was after Daryl Mitchell (190) and Tom Blundell (106) powered New Zealand to a mammoth 553 all-out after being put in to bat.
