(Sportsmax) Joe Root became England’s all-time leading run-scorer in men’s ODIs as they beat West Indies, taking an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.
Joe Root’s career-best ODI knock of 166 helped England win their series against West Indies with a match to spare, doing so by three wickets in Cardiff on Sunday.
Having dominated their first ODI under Harry Brook’s captaincy on Thursday, beating the Windies by a huge 238-run margin at Edgbaston, England were subjected to a far sterner examination in the teams’ second 50-over contest.
Keacy Carty’s 103 – his fourth century in 36 ODIs and third in the last 10 days – gave West Indies encouragement in the Welsh capital, with former England captain Jos Buttler stumping him off Will Jacks’ delivery in the 36th over.
Carty walked with the tourists at 205-3, with Brandon King (59) having offered support after being dropped twice by Ben Duckett at second slip.
Carty was also dropped by Saqib Mahmood as England’s fielders toiled, but Adil Rashid was the pick of the hosts’ bowlers, finishing with figures of 4-63.
Visiting captain Shai Hope stayed resolute as the wickets tumbled around him towards the end of the innings, tacking on 78 before West Indies were bowled out for 308.
England could hardly have made a worse start with the bat, as poor shots from Jamie Smith and Duckett were snaffled by Hope and Matthew Forde respectively, leaving the hosts 2-2.
Two more quickfire wickets left England with what appeared to be a daunting task, as skipper Brook (47) and his predecessor in the role, Buttler (0), both fell to Alzarri Joseph.
But that only set the stage for a remarkable display from Root, who hit 21 fours and two maximums and finished unbeaten, getting support from Jacks (49) and Jacob Bethell (17).
Despite Joseph scalping 4-31, Root’s efforts turned it into a run-a-ball chase well before the closing stages, and he finished the match in fitting fashion with a four to take England to 312-7.
Data Debrief: Root’s best knock sees him claim Morgan’s crown
Root’s previous best score in the 50-over format was an unbeaten 133 against Bangladesh at The Oval on 1 June 2017.
Exactly eight years on from that performance, Root overcame the loss of three of England’s top five for ducks, spending close to four hours at the crease as he hit 166 off 139 deliveries faced, bringing up his 18th ODI century in the process.
By reaching 7,082 runs in ODIs, Root sealed his place in the history books, overtaking Eoin Morgan (6,957) as England’s leading scorer in the format.
