Joe Root 5 wickets: The former England Test captain got rid of the ever dangerous Rishabh Pant during the first Test match at Edgbaston.
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During the first day of the rescheduled ‘fifth’ Test match between England and India at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham, a Rishabh Pant cyclone which caused a heavy distraction in the English camp, was finally calmed down by an off-spinning delivery bowled by Joe Root, but not before he had tonked the bowlers black and blue and amassed a total of 146 runs at a strike rate of 131.53.
Having been reduced to 98/5 at one stage, Pant and Ravindra Jadeja (83*) not only soaked in all the pressure, but also scored runs at more than 4 an Over throughout their stay at the crease, to help India post 338/7 at stumps on Day 1, which also turns out to be the highest runs for team India on the first day of a Test match in England.
Pant, in particular, was at his ultimate beast mode, smashing the pacers and spinners alike with utmost disdain, while playing some of the jaw-dropping shots during his innings which comprised of 20 Fours and 4 Sixes.
The innings came to a halt during the 67th Over, when Root tossed up a fullish delivery outside the off-stump to which Pant slashed hard only for the ball to get a thick outside edge of the bat, to end up in the hands of the first slip fielder.
Joe Root 5 wickets
The amount of turn Root managed to extract off the pitch, might well have helped jog his memory back last year of his team’s tour of India for a four-match Test series, where he managed to pick a five-for on a spinning Ahmedabad track.
During the third Day/night Test in Ahmedabad which was played on a rank-turner, 28 of the 30 wickets that had fallen, were taken by spinners, as England lost the match by 10 wickets, with Joe Root playing just the lone spinner in Jack Leach.
However, Root did ably assist Leach from the other end, as his maiden five-wicket haul helped in getting the Indian team dismissed for 145 in the first innings.
The former England Test skipper returned with a mind-boggling bowling figures of 6.2-3-8-5.
Joe Root best bowling figures
The aforementioned numbers also happened to be Root’s best bowling figures in Test match history.
Overall, the part-time off-spinner has bowled in a total of 116 Test innings, and has picked up 46 wickets at an average of 46.15.
