The England cricket team might have lost the Adelaide test match by a big margin, but, there are some positives to take out for them from that match. One of those positives is the way Joe Root batted in the second innings.
The last few weeks haven’t been easy for the 21 years old Yorkshire player. He had gone to Australia thinking that he would open at least in the first couple of test matches. But, that didn’t happen. He was demoted in the batting order in the first test match and was asked to bat at no. 6.
It seemed as if Root would bat at that position throughout the series. But, it wasn’t to be. Because of Jonathan Trott’s departure, his batting position was changed again in the Adelaide test match and he was promoted to the one down position.
It’s not easy for a young player to bat at different positions in back-to-back test matches. But, Root adjusted quite well. He showed great technique against the Aussie pace battery in the second innings at Adelaide and scored 87 runs.
The way he was batting during that innings, he deserved a hundred. But, with just a few overs remaining in the 4th day’s play, he became Nathan Lyon’s prey and returned to the pavilion.
Root had made good contribution in the second innings of the Brisbane test match as well. He had actually run out of partners in that innings. He had remained not out for a hard fought 26.
Now, it looks certain that Root will continue batting at no. 3 for the rest of the ongoing Ashes series and the England team management would want him to carry on his form as they can’t afford any more defeats in the series.
The third test match of the series will start from Friday.