ROOT MASTER
Crawley hails terrific ton as Joe finally finds form
ZAK CRAWLEY claimed England never doubted “phenomenal” Joe Root would return to form for England.
The former captain (left) has struggled for runs, not even reaching 30 in the first three Tests in India.
But he was back to his best with a composed century as England recovered from an early collapse to take charge of the must-win fourth Test.
“He’s probably the only bloke in our team who could have done that knock, he’s that good and he’s stepped up when we needed him to,” said Crawley.
“He’s a phenomenal player. We fully expected him to get a good score at some point in this series.
“He was due, he’s the best player we’ve ever had and he played phenomenally.
“We’re so happy for him and we never doubted him. If anything we know that when he’s got a couple of low scores he’s even more likely to get the big one, and we expected that from him. He deserves everything he gets, he works so hard at his game and he always comes good.”
Root, 33, hit 106 not out to rescue England, who went to stumps on 302-7 after they had slipped to 112-5 in a helter-skelter opening session on a cracked Ranchi pitch.
His 31st Test hundred – off 219 balls, the slowest century by any England batter under the leadership of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum – was marked in understated fashion as he kissed the badge on his helmet and raised his bat to team-mates who celebrated enthusiastically on the balcony.
Root was unbreachable in defence and scored serenely off front and back foot as he safely dealt with the unpredictable surface, avoiding a repeat of the reverse ramp which had got him out in the previous Test in Rajkot. “If the pitch had been truer, I reckon he would have still played those shots,” said Crawley (circle, left).
“It might have just been the variable bounce which stopped him sweeping and paddling, it wasn’t really the pitch for that kind of thing, it was too inconsistent.
“In Dharamshala (which will host the fifth Test), it’s a flatter wicket, I’d fully expect him to reverse ramp one. That’s just Joe. He’s very present when he bats and doesn’t overthink too much.”
England went at 4.63 an over in the morning thanks to counter-attacking knocks from Crawley, who made a run-a-ball 42, and Jonny Bairstow’s 38 off 35 deliveries.
But the tricky surface was largely responsible for England’s precarious position at lunch, with Crawley bowled twice by Akash Deep, the first off a no-ball, as the India debutant took three wickets.
It was then down to Root, who combined with Ben Foakes (47) to put on 113 to stabilise the innings.