Ashes 2023 [WATCH]: Joe Root escapes dismissal after Cameron Green oversteps in the Lord’s test

In the second Ashes Test at Lord’s, Joe Root, the former England captain and one of their all-time prolific run-scorers, had a fortunate escape early in his innings when he was batting on one. Australia had a premeditated field set for Root, knowing his preference for playing reverse scoop and aggressive pull shots. They positioned three fielders in the deep on the leg side and a third man as soon as Root came to the crease. The plan was to bowl short deliveries to induce attacking shots from him.

During the 39th over of England’s innings, Cameron Green bowled a delivery that Root gloved behind while attempting a pull shot. Alex Carey, the wicketkeeper, took the catch, and Australia celebrated what seemed to be a crucial wicket. However, the drama unfolded when the on-field umpire, Ahsan Raza, confirmed that it was a no-ball due to Green’s overstepping, which was his fifth of the day. He ultimately bowled six no-balls in his spell of seven overs on the second day.

Here’s the video: 

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— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 29, 2023

Unfortunately for Root, he couldn’t capitalize on the reprieve as he was eventually dismissed for just ten runs, caught by a brilliant catch from Steve Smith at backwards square off Mitchell Starc in the 46th over.

It’s worth mentioning that Root had been in exceptional form with the bat, scoring an unbeaten 118 and 46 in the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston. He has a remarkable record at Lord’s, accumulating 1680 runs in 20 Tests at an average of 52.50, including five centuries and six fifties.

With his run-scoring ability, Root also surpassed Australia’s Allan Border in the list of highest run-scorers in Test cricket, now standing in the top 10 with 11,178 runs.

Earlier, England wrapped up Australia’s innings on 416 in the first session of Day 2 but not before Steve Smith completed his 32nd  Test hundreds. Despite early wickets of Carey and Mitchell Starc, Smith played a fluent innings, hitting several boundaries to reach his century. In the process, he became the fourth visiting batter to score over 2000 Test runs in England. Smith is also now the fourth-highest run-getter in the Ashes with 3176 runs.

However, Smith’s innings came to an end when he edged a delivery from Josh Tongue, resulting in a catch by Ben Duckett at the gully. Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon contributed some valuable runs to help Australia cross the 400-run mark. Nevertheless, Australia lost their last seven wickets for just 100 runs ,with Ollie Robinson picking up the last two scalps.

In reply, England scored quickly and looked on top until Australia resorted to a short ball barrage in the third session. England took them on and ended up losing three wickets, including that of Root, after which Ben Stokes and Harry Brook calmed things down for the hosts and take them safely without any further damage to the stumps. England ended the second day at 278/4, trailing Australia by 138 runs.