The opening Ashes encounter between Australia and England turned out to be an absolute thriller as it boiled down to the last session of the day with both the teams having a shot at victory. Eventually, the Pat Cummins-led Australian side chased down a target of 281 runs with just 27 balls remaining to go 1-0 up in the five-match Ashes 2023 series.
Ricky Ponting Shuts Down Kevin Pietersen On Live TV
While the Australian batters outplayed the England bowlers by stealing the game from their hands, one of the England batters who left a lasting impression was Joe Root.
Earlier, in the first innings, he played a sensational knock of 118 runs off 152 balls, smashing 7 fours and 4 sixes. In the second innings, though, he only scored 40 runs but the way he played kind of rattled the Australian bowlers.
Fans on social media hailed Root for his brilliant efforts throughout the game. Even in a conversation with former Australian captain Ricky Ponting, former England captain Kevin Pietersen also hailed Root for his brilliant performance. He went ga-ga over Root’s efforts and said how he ‘owned the game’. He said:
“Joe Root owned the game. He ran the game, he was pure quality and he just owned that space, with (Australia) scratching their heads going ‘what do we do?'”
However, Former Australian Skipper wasn’t keen to see Pietersen heap praise on Root and shut him down on live camera. Ponting said: “Well, he’s out now. He got 40″.
Here’s the video:
Peak alpha stuff from Punter here that @gradecricketer would be proud of:
✅ speaks only in sidemouth while looking disinterested
✅ Shuts down some waffle in one sentence
✅ Rounds down the oppositions scoreRTP still terrorising England.#Ashes pic.twitter.com/TX5KXoJYQm
— Josh Conway (@BuzzConway_) June 19, 2023
Joe Root Has Dethroned Labuschagne From No.1 Test Ranking
Meanwhile, English Batting Maestro has replaced Marnus Labuschagne as the new No.1 ranked Test batsman in the latest ICC Men’s Test batting rankings released on Wednesday. Marnus held the numero uno spot for over six months since rising to the top in December 2023. However, Root with his latest century against Australia in the 1st Ashes Test has snatched the top spot from the Australian middle-order batsman.
