During the India vs England third and final ODI at the Lord’s Cricket Ground, London, Joe Root once again stepped up big for England as he achieved several milestones during the match. After scoring his fifty, he became the first English batter to score six consecutive 50+ scores in ODI cricket.
Joe Root has been excellent throughout the series, and in this match he came into bat when the stage was set for him, and he played a beautiful knock, scoring his half-century in 39 balls; he kept the run flow going as England posted a mammoth total of 387/3 in 50 overs.
Joe Root in stunning form
Joe Root has been in sensational form in this series as he remained unbeaten in the three matches he played against the India National Cricket Team. In the first match, he played a stunning knock as the wickets crumbled in that game and was unbeaten with a score of 76* runs as England lost the match by 4 wickets.
In the second game, while chasing a low total of 234 runs, he stuck through one end and was unbeaten yet again as England were in trouble at one stage. He failed to register a hundred as he remained not out with the score of 99* runs, as England won the match by 4 wickets.
On Sunday in the third ODI match, Joe Root had the most runs scored between dismissals for England in men’s ODIs after he came back unbeaten once again with the score of 74 off 48 deliveries, smashing 9 fours in the innings. Joe Root is also the leading run-getter in the series. It has been the year of Root, as he has scored 496 runs so far in 6 innings with a mind-boggling average of 248.00.
England batters takes charge
Coming back to the match, England captain Harry Brook won the toss and elected to bat first; they made one change in the side with Josh Tongue coming back in place of Saqib Mahmood. India made three changes with KL Rahul, Prince Yadav and Arshdeep Singh replacing injured Jasprit Bumrah and Washington Sundar and Shivam Dube.
While batting first, England were off to a good start, as openers Ben Duckett and Jacob Bethell finally got to play their strokes in the series decider. They stitched a partnership of 192 runs for the first wicket, with Bethell missing out on his century as he was dismissed for 91 runs.
Ben Duckett scripts history
Duckett continued his ruthless hitting as he scored 141 runs and set the stage for the other English batters. He, after the innings, achieved the milestone of the highest individual score in ODIs at Lord’s, surpassing the record of former West Indies batter Sir Vivian Richards.
England, with the courtesy of the strong opening partnership and following that a 101- run partnership between Duckett and Root, scored the highest ever team total at this venue with 387/3. Jos Buttler also contributed, scoring 41 off 13 deliveries as England scored 82 runs in the last five overs.
