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Joe Root's freak act before joining Test cricket's 10,000-run club

riley morgan
Sports Reporter
·4-min read
England cricket batter Joe Root (pictured right) keeping his bat upright while Jamieson runs into bowl.
England batter Joe Root (pictured right) stunned cricket viewers when his bat remained upright on the pitch without assistance. (Image: Twitter)

The cricket world has been left stunned after viewers spotted a bizarre moment involving Joe Root and his bat, which was picked up on broadcast before a delivery.

Root made history after becoming the quickest English player ever to reach 10,000 Test runs after producing a world class century to help his nation defeat New Zealand in Game 1 at Lords.

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It was perhaps fitting Root did most to deliver the result with an outstanding knock of 115 not out forming the spine of the chase as England hunted down a target of 277 with five wickets to spare.

However, it was an unusual moment during the run chase that had social media buzzing.

During Kyle Jamieson's run-up before a delivery, viewers noticed Root wasn't holding his bat.

The bat was standing upright, without assistance, next to him.

While Root was conjuring some magic on the pitch, many joked he had produced some magic off it to help his bat stay upright.

The best explanation for the unusual moment is Root's bat has a flatter edge than most other bats.

Regardless, the moment of the day was Root reaching the 10,000 Test run feat with a legendary batting display.

Cricket world praises Joe Root achievement

New England captain Ben Stokes saved some special praise for Root, following his maiden win after taking over the team.

"Winning games is always special, particularly for England, and this was a great day. It was fantastic for me to see a very close friend walk off after leading the team to victory," Stokes said.

Joe Root (pictured) with his man of the match medal after England's victory agains New Zealand.
Joe Root (pictured) won man of the match after his century against New Zealand. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

"Joe and I are very close, we're not just work colleagues. To see him walk off there, leading the team to victory, seeing the emotion of pure joy and happiness to win a game for England in his first game after stepping down as captain was amazing.

"There is never any doubt of Joe stepping up on the big occasions."

There was mutual appreciation from Root, whose 26th career century saw him join Sir Alastair Cook in an exclusive group of just two Englishman to pass 10,000 Test runs.

He owed several of his most memorable wins in charge of the national side to Stokes and was pleased to begin repaying the debt of gratitude.

"It's my turn now," he said with a satisfied smile.

"That's a great motivator for me moving forward, with the amount of amazing things Ben did for this team under my leadership.

"It's a great opportunity for me in the next phase of my career to do that for him. I'm not sure I'll be able to do some of the things he has done but I can certainly try."

For Stokes, a wildly fluctuating win that could have gone either way, provided another indelible Lord's memory against New Zealand.

with AAP

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