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.”
Badminton world No. 3 Anders Antonsen clinched his first Indonesia Open title yesterday after beating Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen, while South Korea’s An Se-young won her second championship in Jakarta. The 28-year-old Dane sank world No. 7 Chou at the Indonesian capital’s Istora Senayan arena, winning 22-20, 21-14 in a 60-minute match to secure the prestigious Super 1000 event. Antonsen came out on top in a tightly contested first game before cruising to victory in the second. In a more closely fought women’s singles final, South Korean ace and world No. 1 An fought back from one game down to beat China’s
Spain starlets Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams dazzled on Thursday as La Roja beat France 5-4 in a thriller in Stuttgart, Germany, to set up a UEFA Nations League final with Portugal. Yamal bagged a brace, while Williams scored and provided an assist as the two wingers cut France’s makeshift defense to ribbons. Mikel Merino and Pedri were also on the score sheet for the UEFA Euro 2024 champions. Kylian Mbappe netted a second-half penalty, but Spain were 5-1 up and cruising, before Les Bleus suddenly woke up as their opponents took their foot off the pedal. France’s three late goals — a
Italy crashed to a 3-0 loss away to Norway, as the four-time FIFA World Cup champions made a disastrous start to their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign on Friday, while Belgium had to settle for a draw in North Macedonia. Alexander Sorloth, Antonio Nusa and Erling Haaland all scored in the first half in pouring rain in Oslo as Norway made it a night to forget for Italy, who missed out on the past two World Cups. “I have no explanation. Our supporters don’t deserve this kind of match. We need to do some soul-searching. It’s unacceptable,” Italy captain and goalkeeper Gianluigi
The Crusaders yesterday produced a clinical performance in difficult conditions to beat the Queensland Reds 32-12 and claim home advantage in next week’s Super Rugby semi-finals. Lock Scott Barrett and prop Tamaiti Williams scored first-half tries to reward an outstanding performance from the Crusaders’ forwards in wet, slippery conditions and bitterly cold temperatures. Scrumhalf Noah Hotham defied the conditions in the second half to score a superb solo try and, after kicking a conversion and penalty to make the score 22-0 at the hour mark, flyhalf Rivez Reihana scored a try which took the game beyond the Reds. “Typical Christchurch weather, cold, wet
RSS