Root’s sparkling 166 steers England to series win

Cardiff’s second ODI

West Indies 308 (47.4 overs): Carty 103 (105), Rashid 4-63

England 312-7 (48.5 overs): Root 166* (139), Joseph 4-31

England won the series by three wickets and won it 2 for 2.

With his sparkling unbeaten 166, Joe Root’s sparkling one-day international record in Cardiff gave way to West Indies for three wickets.

With seven balls left in the series, England hit their 30-ball target of 309 with a game to spare. Root is also his nation’s highest run-scorer in Tests.

His highest ODI score came from Jamie Smith, Ben Duckett, and Jos Buttler’s ducks, surpassing World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan’s 6 and 957 runs, which equaled his highest total.

A masterful partnership of 143 with Will Jacks put England within striking distance of victory after Root and Harry Brook combined for a third-wicket stand of 85.

West Indies were kept interested by a fierce spell from Alzarri Joseph, who finished with a score of 4-31, but Root and Adil Rashid calmly ticked off the remaining 21 runs, which were styled by a classic Root drive down the ground.

West Indies’ 308 was established by Keacy Carty’s 103 earlier, which was capped by Brandon King and Shai Hope’s half-centuries, and was assisted greatly by England’s poor fielding.

For the second wicket, Carty and King added 141, but Duckett dropped King on 11 and Duckett also dropped King on 11, wasting a run-out opportunity when both batters were trapped in the middle of the pitch in the middle of the 21st over.

When Carty three balls after scoring his century saw Rashid take 4-63 and Mahmood take three late wickets to mop up the tail, the innings was cut to 205-2.

The visitors were left to regret wasting 14 balls of their innings after the final five wickets were thrown for 50 runs, with Hope receiving little support from the lower order as he reached 78 from 66 balls.

In their opening game, England seamers Carse and Mahmood were lively, with Jewel Andrew’s opener being caught in the second over with some unintended bounce, only for three dropped catches to come.

Carty punished England’s numerous errors with a third ODI ton in his previous four matches, continuing his impressive run of form. The first was a challenging chance that Duckett missed as he dived full stretch at second slip, but the second was a sitter, the batter striking straight ahead of Jacob Bethell to get a short fine leg.

After a flashing drive, Duckett should have taken his chance and fielded the ball into King’s hands instead.

Before the two batters settled down, King holed out long-on off Rashid and took West Indies to 146-1 at the halfway point before getting the missed run-out.

As England’s seamers leaked runs from their short ball plan, Carty continued to excel and scored a ton from 102 balls in the 35th over while combining with the ever-classy Hope to score freely.

However, Carty’s wild swipe off Jacks was the first of many misadventures as West Indies struggled to capitalize on the platform. Before Justin Greaves, Matthew Forde, and Gudakesh Motie were caught trying to break Cardiff’s short straight lines, Simron Hetmyer was pin to Rashid.

Root dropped Hope at long-off on 73 before taking the next ball, Motie, in a fittingly messy inning, and moved on to the next ball.

Root, who exemplified remarkable calm and assurance from ball one, is not unfamiliar with the crease after top-order failures.

In the first over, Smith was caught behind off Seales, and Duckett’s miserable day came to an end when he was caught off Forde in deep third.

Root’s counter-attacking approach, which whacks 30 from his first 16 balls before taking on Joseph’s short ball, which gave him three runs short of his half-century, allowed him to ease into his innings. Then, two overs later, Butler continued to drag on to his stumps from the same bowler.

Given that Root was on six and that the Windies’ review indicated it was clipping the bails but the umpire’s order, Root was fortunate to survive.

The youngster made 17 before he was flown to Roston Chase to leave England, teetering once more at 133-5. Bethell followed with a patient stand of 40.

Root and Jacks consolidated by hitting the gaps well, the latter reining in his attacking instincts with just two boundaries in his first 50 balls, allowing Root to dominate, launching a four and six in style before effortlessly moving up another gear.

We didn’t take the lead with the bat, so we did. However, we must commend the bowlers for their persistent fighting.

England’s Harry Brook, the country’s captain, said in a BBC Test Match Special: “We probably weren’t clinical enough to take those chances on the field, and we probably could have kept them at 250.”

Joe was incredible, and he’s only improving. He’s a role model for me, he’s such a talented player, such a talented bloke, and he puts up the most effort of any player I’ve ever seen.

Steven Finn, a former England fast bowler, said in a BBC Test Match Special: “Joe Root is just on this constant journey of ticking everything off before him, and now he is head and shoulders above the rest.

His average is far higher than anyone else who has played England’s ODI matches. He was so determined to be there at the conclusion, and how he handled pressure and pressure caused others to fall on him.