Twitter Reactions: After Joe Root's historic knock, Smith's 95 puts England in box seat on Day 2 vs West Indies
Joe Root surpassed the 12000-run mark in Tests and is now only behind Sir Alastair Cook for most runs for England.
The cricket summer is at its peak with England taking West Indies in the last and the final Test of the series being played at Edgbaston. After West Indies made a thrilling start after finishing their first innings score of 282, they rattled the English top order batters as the hosts were reeling at 54/5 at one stage. However, it was Joe Root's day as the flamboyant batter dug in to bail his side out of trouble on Day 2 of the third Test.
The former Captain stitched a vital 115 run-stand with his current skipper Ben Stokes. Incredibly enough, after scoring his 14th run in the second innings, Root surpassed the legendary Brian Lara's career tally of 11,953 runs. Moreover, he continued to torment the West Indian bowlers, who are now only behind Sir Alastair Cook (12,472) to become the highest run-getter for England in Tests. As a result, Root eclipsed the 12000-run landmark while on the 60th run as England were just eight runs shy when the scores read 274/7 when he got dismissed on 87.
Besides, youngster Jamie Smith continued his good mojo and pummeled the visitors en route to missing his maiden Test century by just five runs. In what was a final flourish, Chris Woakes and Gus Atkinson piloted the home side to an impressive 376 runs to gain a 94-run lead.
In reply, West Indies failed to get going as the job was cut out for England's pace battery. Leader of the pack, Chris Woakes, struck early in the first over to dismiss the West Indies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite on a duck. Gus Atkinson continued his sublime bowling run and dismissed Kirk Mckenzie to give another dent to the chances of the visitors pushing for a solid start in a bid to set a stiff target for England.
Consequently, at the end of the day's play, West Indies are 33/2 on the board as they still trail by 61 runs. Day 3 looks promising as the visitors will look to fight back to keep the hosts on their toes in the final Test of the series with the hope of clinching a consolation win.
Meanwhile, here's how the fans reacted to Day 2 of the ENG vs WI third Test:
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