Former England captain Joe Root established multiple historic batting milestones on Thursday during the host nation’s competitive four wicket triumph over India in the second One Day International match. Playing at Sophia Gardens, the experienced top order anchor engineered a calculated, unbeaten 99 run performance from 133 deliveries, directing the home side to their target of 234 with 35 deliveries left to play. By steering this successful pursuit, the veteran middle order batsman officially overtook Indian maestro Virat Kohli on the definitive global list of players maintaining the highest batting average during triumphant ODI run chases, requiring a minimum baseline of 2,000 runs.
Following this latest masterclass in Cardiff, Root boasts a remarkable average of 91.59 inside victorious limited overs pursuits. This evaluation positions him at the number two spot globally, sitting right behind former Indian captain MS Dhoni who occupies the summit with a staggering 102.71 average. Dhoni accumulated 2,876 runs across 75 triumphant second innings performances, featuring two centuries and 20 half centuries. In comparison, Root has compiled ,2473 runs across 47 individual chasing innings, a tally highlighted by seven centuries and 12 fifties. Kohli has consequently slipped to third on the historic list, possessing 6,235 runs across 105 successful chasing outings at a lifetime average of 89.07, alongside 24 hundreds and 29 half centuries.
Stranded on Ninety Nine to Claim Rare Cricket Feat
Though the anchoring batsman guided his team over the finishing line to level the three match bilateral series at 1-1, he narrowly missed out on registering his 21st career ODI century. The milestone was taken out of his hands on the opening delivery of the 45th over when lower order partner Gus Atkinson dispatched a delivery from Prasidh Krishna to the boundary ropes, wrapping up the match context. Root’s deliberate 133 ball tenure at the crease featured nine boundaries.
Consequently, the top order mainstay etched his name into the record books as the absolute first English batsman in limited overs international history to remain stranded on an unbeaten 99. Within the wider global landscape, he is only the fourth competitor ever to log this specific score against an Indian bowling unit and the 17th player overall to navigate this rare statistical occurrence.
The sport witnessed its very first instance of a batsman finishing an innings on 99 not out against India back in February 1981, when New Zealand opening batsman Bruce Edgar faced 146 deliveries to reach that score in Auckland. Two decades later, Ramnaresh Sarwan of the West Indies replicated the feat by hitting 99 from 104 balls against the same opposition in Ahmedabad during a 2002 encounter. Five years subsequent to that match, Pakistan middle order icon Mohammad Yousuf concluded a chase on 99 runs from 104 deliveries against India in Gwalior during a 2007 bilateral assignment.
Breaching the One Thousand Run Threshold Against India
In tandem with his chasing accomplishments, the elegant stroke maker became only the third English batsman to amass 1,000 or more One Day International runs against India. Root currently commands an aggregate of 1,026 runs collected over 27 ODI fixtures against this particular opponent, tracking at an average of 51.30 while collecting three centuries and six half centuries along the journey.
The elite domestic group includes only two other former English internationals, topped by Ian Bell who generated 1,163 runs against India, and Kevin Pietersen who follows closely with 1,138 runs. As the bilateral units travel to London to contest the highly anticipated series decider scheduled at Lord’s Cricket Ground on Sunday, July 19, Root remains perfectly positioned to close the gap on Pietersen’s historic tally or potentially overtake him with another significant contribution.
