Joe Root masterclass secures England’s comeback in Cardiff

Rhodri Evans
Joe Root became England’s leading run-scorer in one-day internationals as his sparkling unbeaten 166 secured a three-wicket win over West Indies in Cardiff.
In the process, Root passed 7000 ODI runs, as well as his former World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan at the top of the pile for England.
The Yorkshireman – who is also England’s highest test run scorer – scored 166 from 139 balls, including 21 fours and two sixes as he lead his side’s recovery from 2-2 in the second match of the series.
Following the early loss of openers Jamie Smith and Ben Duckett, Root and county teammate Harry Brook put on 85 for the third wicket before the latter – England’s newly appointed one-day captain – departed for 47.
With England again reeling at 133-5 following the loss of Jos Buttler for a duck and Jacob Bethell for 17, Will Jacks in his new position of number seven showed his class, scoring 49 in a partnership of 143 with Root.
West Indies’ fast bowler Alzarri Joseph brought the tourists back into the match, removing Jacks and Brydon Carse as part of a fierce spell of 4-31 from his 10 overs. Root, though, carried his bat through to the end, hitting the winning runs with a glorious straight drive with seven balls to spare.
Earlier in the day, West Indies responded well to losing by 238 runs in Birmingham. Put in on a green track after some rain showers, the visitors compiled 308 thanks to Keacy Carty’s 103, bookended by half-centuries from Brandon King and Shai Hope in supporting roles.
England’s fielding let them down throughout, with Carty dropped on 1 and 41 by Duckett and Saqib Mahmood, while the former also dropped King on 11 and messed up a presentable run out opportunity. A day to forget for the left-hander.
Mahmood shrugged off the disappointment of his own fielding efforts to record figures of 3-37, while the ever-reliable Adil Rashid picked up 4-63.
The visitors were left to rue wasting 14 balls of their innings as the last five wickets fell for 50 runs, the lower order offering Hope little support as he was last to depart for 78 from 66 balls.
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