Forever young
Ten of Joe Root's best innings
180 v Australia, 2nd Test, Lord’s, 2013
England won by 347 runs
You know you’re dealing with greatness when a matchwinning 180 in a Lord’s Ashes Test barely makes the cut. The main problem with the innings, that it came when England were hammering a ragged Australia, was beyond Root’s control. He batted all day on the Saturday to first blunt and then humiliate Australia with a cheeky, cherubic smile. Root scored his last 74 runs from 72 balls, having taken 264 over the first 106. In those days he was an opener with the nickname The Milky Bar Kid, and it was decades since English cricket has seen such boyish effervescence. The egg-and-bacon brigade were enchanted.
134 v Australia, 1st Test, Cardiff, 2015
England won by 169 runs
When Root arrived on the first morning of the 2015 Ashes with England 43 for 3, David Warner’s mouth couldn’t open itself fast enough. “You’re not facing Trent Boult’s 80mph half-volleys now, mate,” he growled. But Australia soon found out just how much Root had improved his front-foot game, literally and figuratively, since a miserable 2013-14 Ashes. He had the courage to counter-attack even after being dropped second ball on 0, and larruped 33 from his first 24 deliveries. Never mind 80mph half-volleys; Mitchell Johnson’s 95mph short balls got the treatment in an innings full of blistering cover drives and extravagant uppercuts. Root was eventually dismissed for a cathartic and coruscating 134 from only 166 balls, one of the great tone-setting Ashes innings. England, barely given a prayer beforehand, won the game and the series.
110 v South Africa, 3rd Test, Jo’burg, 2015-16
England won by seven wickets
Root’s forgotten masterpiece. On a fast, bouncy pitch at the Wanderers – the kind that many, including the South African captain AB de Villiers, thought would be his Kryptonite – Root took on four 90mph+ bowlers to make a white-knuckle 110. He barely played a cover drive, instead showcasing the pull, on-drive and uppercut; only three of his 17 boundaries came in front of square on the off side. Only one player on either side reached fifty: Ben Stokes, whose 58 came during a blistering counter-attack of 111 in 15 overs with Root. South Africa couldn’t even outscore Root in the second innings: Stuart Broad ransacked them for 83 to set up a memorable series-winning victory.
83 v South Africa, T20 World Cup, Mumbai, 2016
England won by two wickets
Root is a far better batsman in 50-over cricket than T20, yet his greatest white-ball innings probably at the 2016 World Cup: 83 from 44 balls, including a mid-innings burst of 70 from 30, as England chased an apparently impossible target of 230 to beat South Africa. And though Root was fuelled by anger after Eoin Morgan moved him down the order, it didn’t compromise his awareness or imagination. He reached fifty with a reverse ramp for six off Chris Morris, possibly the first demonstration a shot that would become familiar. If it wasn’t for Carlos Brathwaite, he’d have been player of the match in the final too.
190 v South Africa, 1st Test, Lord’s, 2017
England won by 211 runs
The England captaincy gets everyone in the end, but at the start there is only sunshine, optimism and usually a heap of runs. On an idyllic, Boy’s Own day at Lord’s, Root became the fourth successive England captain to score a century in their first Test as skipper. He played two innings in one, leading a recovery from 76 for 4 and then flaying a tiring attack after tea to finish on 190 from only 234 balls. Root played better innings as captain, but none so quite so rich in hope.
186 v Sri Lanka, 2nd Test, Galle, 2020-21
England won by six wickets
The second Covid lockdown allowed Root to conduct a forensic review of his game, and at the start of 2021 he ended a lean three-year period with three huge first-innings hundreds to set up victories on the subcontinent. The lowest of the three was arguably the most challenging: 186 out of 344 on a very tricky pitch in Galle. It was the Rooty and sweep show. He arrived with England 5 for 2 in the 8th over, still 376 behind, and produced to sweep and reverse-sweep everything that moved. Only a run-out out from short leg stopped him. Root was playing on different pitch, against different bowlers: Sri Lanka’s dangerman, the left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya, took 0 for 89 against Root and 7 for 48 against the rest.
218 v India, 1st Test, Chennai, 2020-21
England won by 227 runs
Never confuse decency with softness. A number of Root’s best innings, including this double-century in a staggering England victory in India, have involved the kind of ruthlessness we associate with Allan Border or Steve Waugh. Root knew from the previous Indian tour that big first-innings runs weren’t enough; you had to go huge. His methodical 218 helped England to 578 and, knowing that the eventually the pitch would explode, he was happy for his team to bat on until the third day. It was mental disintegration, Root-style. On the second morning, having resumed on 128, Root scored only 28 runs. He realised that, in real terms, even dot balls were credit in the bank on a pitch that was going to crumble. For the umpteenth time, he read the game perfectly.
180* v India, 2nd Test, Lord’s, 2021
England lost by 151 runs
Adversity often shines the brightest light on greatness. In 2021, with his team and his captaincy dreams slowly fading away, Root was in the form of his life. When a superior India side arrived for the return series, Root made centuries in each of the first three Tests and top-scored in all five of England’s innings. We’ve gone for his unbeaten 180 at Lord’s, a classic Root scoreboard-ticker in which he ran over 100 of his runs. England’s next highest score in the match was 57. It should have set up victory, but England fell apart on a harrowing final day and were beaten. Root the captain was heavily criticised; Root the batsman could have done no more – in that game or throughout 2021. His defiance, and particularly his ability to compartmentalise the joy of batting, almost brought a lump to the throat.
142* v India, 5th Test, Edgbaston, 2022
England won by seven wickets
By the time the India series concluded a year later, Root was living in a different world: free of the captaincy and high on Bazball. A classical unbeaten 115 guided England to victory against New Zealand in Ben Stokes’ first Test as full-time captain. Yet even that was topped by the breezy 142 not out that allowed to romp to a target of 378 against an Indian attack including Bumrah, Shami and Jadeja. Even though he was top-scorer, Root was happily overshadowed by Jonny Bairstow, who bulldozed yet another century in a stunning partnership of 269. Back in the ranks, Root a man with the weight of the world off his shoulders.
262 v Pakistan, 1st Test, Multan, 2024-25
England won by an innings and 47 runs
He only needed 71. That’s how many runs Root required to overtake Sir Alastair Cook as England’s leading runscorer, which was the main external focus at the start of the recent Pakistan series. Root saw a much bigger picture. On a Multan road, he eliminated risk almost entirely to make his highest Test score. Like Root’s previous best, the 254 against the same opposition at Old Trafford in 2016, there were no frills or unorthodoxy, just the three qualities that have defined his batting for the last 12 years: style, charm and hunger.