Joe Root in ‘dreamworld’ after century on debut
Joe Root admitted that he is in “dreamworld” after battling illness and riding his luck to hit an unbeaten 184 in his first innings as England Test captain at Lord’s against South Africa. Root came in with England struggling but dominated the rest of the day, profiting after being dropped twice early on and then stumped off a no-ball on 149.
So it was not a chanceless innings but Root said that those moments of good fortune made him realise that it was meant to be his day. “I enjoyed every minute of it,” Root said. “At times I rode my luck, but you need to on occasions.”
Root admitted he could not believe how well his day went, or how fortunate he was. “Especially getting dropped once, just chipping someone on the boundary and then getting a reprieve as well,” he said. “It seemed to fall into place today. When you get a life early you feel like it is your day, and you’ve got to try and make the most of it. This was one of those occasions.”
Root should have been caught in the deep by Aidan Markram when he top-edged a hook off Kagiso Rabada but the ball flew just over the fielder’s head and went for four. “I started walking back, I thought I’d hit it straight to him,” Root admitted. “But as I said, lucky was on my side today and it could have been very different. When you do get lives like that in Test cricket, you have to make the most of them. I was just pleased I got a few more later on.”
Then Root was stumped off Keshav Maharaj on 149 only to be reprieved because Maharaj bowled a no-ball. Root said he had never got off following such an error by a spinner. “It’s a nice feeling getting that call-back after a glaring error,” Root smiled.
What made Root’s innings even more impressive was the fact that he struggled with a bad cold, which meant he could barely speak in the postmatch press conference. “I felt pretty groggy this morning, I didn’t wake up great, but there was nothing that was going to stop me from enjoying the day,” Root said.
“It’s obviously an amazing opportunity and a privilege to be England captain. I wanted to make sure I went out there and made the most of everything. A cold wasn’t going to get in the way.”
It is impossible to imagine how, for Joe Root, day one could have gone any better than this. In his first innings as England captain he hit a brilliant unbeaten 184, turning what threatened to be a very bad day into a thrillingly good one.
Root arrived at the crease at 17-2 and not too long after they were 76-4. When he walked off to a standing ovation at stumps they were 357-5. Danger had been transformed into dominance. Could he have set the tone for this series and for his England tenure? Surely not. Gravity dictates it cannot always be this good.
This was Root’s11th Test century, his third highest ever Test score, and perhaps the most important of the lot. Batting at Lord’s, in the sun, against a quality attack, with his whole team counting on him and a very tangible sense of a new beginning, Root batted thrillingly, even if he did concede three more chances than he would want.
Meanwhile, Thursday belonged to Joe Root but as he only lasted nine minutes of Friday England needed his team-mates to take the game to South Africa instead. Step forward Moeen Ali and Stuart Broad, both with bat, then both with ball, between them moving England into a position of strength.
Ali and Broad powered England on to 458 all out just before lunch before restricting South Africa to 214 for five by the close. They took two wickets each, including South Africa’s best batsmen, in a second session when the visitors were rocking. It was only after tea when Theunis De Bruyn and Temba Bavuma restored some stability with a 99-stand, although even that could not make it to stumps. South Africa are still 244 runs behind.
The day was a personal triumph for Ali, who brought up 2,000 Test runs in the morning and then 100 Test wickets in the afternoon. Only six Englishmen have done that before, 27 ever in the game, and only four of those quicker than Ali. Broad has got there, and Ben Stokes will surely be there too by the end of this Test summer. THE INDPEPENDENT