ENG vs WI | Root daddy ton helps England chase 300-plus to seal ODI series with game to spare
England came out on top in a thriller at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff to seal the three-match ODI series with a second win on the trot. Keacy Carty's ton helped West Indies post 308 but Joe Root's 150-plus is what proved decisive as no other batter from his team crossed even 50 runs.
Asked to bat first, West Indies lost Jewel Andrew to Brydon Carse in the second over itself but Brandon King and Keacy Carty strung together a big stand to avoid a collapse. The duo benefitted form two dropped catches and a missed run out, all courtesy of Ben Duckett, to accumulate 146 runs and bring up their half-centuries in the process. Adil Rashid evetually provided the hosts the much-needed breakthrough by having King hole out in the 26th over, but it only brought out the Caribbean outfit's best ODI batter Shai Hope. The skipper saw Carty bring up his third ton of the summer and fourth overall in ODIs before switching gears himself. Alongwith cameos from Gudakesh Motie (18 off 9) and Jayden Seales (10 off 3), Hope struck four fours and as many maximums to help post a daunting target of 309.
In respones, England got off to the worst start possible when they lost both openers within the first two overs for ducks. However, Joe Root and Harry Brook embarked on a recovery with an 86-run stand, the latter playing his usual attacking brand of cricket to smash 47 runs in just 36 deliveries. It took a fiery spell from Alzarri Joseph to dispatch the captain and then get rid of Jos Buttler for an eight-ball duck with one of the finest ODI workovers in recent times, and once Jacob Bethell departed in the 24th over the hosts found themselves reeling at 133/5. Nevertheless, Root took over the mantle, reaching milestone from milestone during a 143-run stand with Will Jacks in which the latter contributed just 49 runs. Even after Jacks fell, Root kept plundering on to become the first man to score 7000 ODI runs for England, and finished on 166 to seal the game with seven balls to spare.
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