Joe Root on Sunday said that he has “still got a lot to give” after yet another record-breaking display in his celebrated career guided England to a one-day series win over the West Indies.
England’s pursuit of 309 in Cardiff was in dire straits at 2-2, with the hosts in fresh trouble at 133-5, but Root’s one-day international best of 166 not out off 139 balls sealed a three-wicket win and an unassailable 2-0 lead with one to play at The Oval in London today.
His innings at Sophia Gardens also saw star batsman Root become England’s highest run-scorer in one-day internationals, surpassing retired World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan’s tally of 6,957.
Photo: Reuters
“It’s a sign you’re getting old, having played as many games as that,” said the smiling 34-year-old after becoming the first England batsman to go past 7,000 one-day international runs.
Root, also England’s record Test run-scorer and the top-ranked batsman in that format, was adamant he remained as run-hungry as ever.
“I want to give as much as I can for England for as long as I can,” Root said. “I’ve still got a lot to give and a lot more runs in there, and hopefully, an innings like that shows that.”
“Until that desire, that want to get better every day, want to add to the group and want to be not out at the end of a chase like that, when that’s not a burning desire any more, it will be time to stop,” he said. “It doesn’t feel like that’s anywhere near the case at the moment, and I’ll keep just trying to do my part in helping us win games and series down the line.”
Harry Brook has overseen England’s first one-day series triumph since September 2023 after taking over as white-ball captain from Jos Buttler, who rarely had a full-strength squad to choose from during his time as skipper.
“I’ve played a huge amount of cricket with Jos and almost felt guilty that I wasn’t able to be there for him throughout a lot of his tenure,” said Root, who played just 19 one-day matches between England’s 2019 World Cup triumph and their woeful 2023 title defense as priority was given to the Test side. “I want to play as much as I can for England. If I’m going to make the team better, then absolutely.”
The West Indies, capitalizing on some slack England fielding, were all set for a huge total at 170-2 after 30 overs, with Keacy Carty making a fine century, but they were held to 308 all out off 47.4 overs, with leg-spinner Adil Rashid taking four wickets and fast bowler Saqib Mahmood three.
Root, while saying Brook is an “idiot” beyond the boundary, praised his fellow Yorkshireman’s tactical nous on the field after England won with seven balls to spare.
“As much as he’s an idiot away from cricket — and I can say that because I’ve known him forever — he’s very cricket intelligent,” Root said. “He understands the game exceptionally well.”
By the time Cameron Menzies finally left the arena on Monday, the blood gushing from the gash on his right hand had trickled down his wrist, part of his forearm and — somehow — up to his face. Smeared in crimson and regret, and already mouthing sheepish apologies to the crowd, he disappeared down the steps, pursued by a stern-looking Matt Porter, the chief executive of Professional Darts Corp (PDC). The physical scars from Menzies’ encounter with the Alexandra Palace drinks table after his 3-2 defeat against Charlie Manby at the Darts World Championship would be gone within a few weeks.
Manchester United on Monday blew the lead three times to miss out on moving up to fifth in the Premier League as AFC Bournemouth would not be beaten in a thrilling 4-4 draw at Old Trafford. United have lost just once in their past 10 games, but Ruben Amorim would be frustrated as more points at home were frittered away despite arguably the best attacking display of his reign in charge. Amad Diallo and Casemiro gave the hosts a halftime lead either side of Antoine Semenyo’s equalizer. Two Bournemouth goals from Evanilson and Marcus Tavernier in seven minutes at the start of the
LOW-GOAL SHOOT-OUT: Of the nine penalties in the shoot-out, only three went in, with Flamengo’s Samuel Lino, and Vitinha and Nuno Mendes of PSG netting Matvei Safonov on Wednesday made four straight penalty saves in a penalty shoot-out to help Paris Saint-Germain beat Flamengo in the Intercontinental Cup final and win a sixth trophy of the year. The Russian goalkeeper was thrown in the air by his teammates after his exploits in the shoot-out, which was won 2-1 by PSG after a 1-1 draw after extra-time. It completed a trophy-laden 12 months for the French team, who had already won the Trophee des Champions, Ligue 1, the Coupe de France, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Super Cup — also on penalties against Tottenham Hotspur in
LACKLUSTER FIGHT: At one stage, the referee lost patience with the two fighters, warning them in the fourth round that ‘the fans did not pay to see this crap’ Former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua on Friday knocked out YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in their controversial Netflix-backed bout in Miami. The fight at the Kaseya Center, which saw both men reportedly splitting a mammoth purse of US$184 million, had triggered alarm across boxing due to the gulf in physical size and class between Britain’s two-time former world champion Joshua and Paul, an Internet personality who has forged a lucrative career through a handful of novelty boxing contests. However, in the event, Joshua made hard work of defeating his vastly less accomplished opponent, before his superior size and power eventually told
RSS