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England captain Joe Root continued his golden run on Day 1 of the ongoing third Ashes Test against Australia at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
Put in to bat, England lost both their openers for just 13 runs. Root once again led from the front and tried to steady his side’s first innings. He scored a crucial half-century, his ninth in Australia – also the most by any visitor without making a Test ton.
But soon, Root lost his concentration and was dismissed by Aussie pacer Mitchell Starc at a score of 50 itself and what followed was an angry reaction by the English skipper, who looked frustrated with probably the manner he got out.
It all happened during the 33rd over when Root hung back a little and tried to play a late cut only to find an outside edge with wicketkeeper Alex Carey making no mistake to complete the catch. Just after his dismissal, Root angrily punched the bat and shouted in frustration.
Here is the video:
Starc gets the big one – England's captain is gone!
Root out for exactly 50 #Ashes pic.twitter.com/cqkjIqCy3W
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 26, 2021
Root reaches another landmark in Test cricket
In his gritty innings, Root added another feather to his glorious cap. He went past former South Africa captain Graeme Smith’s record of scoring most Test runs as captain in a calendar year. Root clubbed 1680 runs this year, while Smith had scored 1656 runs as Proteas captain in 2008.
Moreover, Root is also the third-highest in terms of scoring runs in a calendar year overall. He is only behind Pakistan’s Mohammad Yousuf (1,788 runs in 2006) and former West Indies skipper Vivian Richards (1,710 runs in 1976).
