Root Destroys Windies' Hopes After Carty Century Lights Up Cardiff
- The Cricket Blog
- Jun 2
- 4 min read
-Timothy Thompson & Brandon Harrison
After suffering a disappointing and rather embarrassing defeat against England in the first ODI, the West Indies team looked to change their fortunes in the 2nd ODI. This started with a switch in the batting line-up, as Trinidadian Amir Jangoo was dropped. This was followed by the reintroduction of Shimron Hetmyer into the Windies playing XI, after featuring in just three matches in the previous year.
This time, the Windies team lost the toss and were sent in to bat by the home side. There was a change in the top order, with teenager Jewel Andrew coming to the crease to pair with senior statesman Brandon King. The stay of Jewel Andrew was short-lived, as he found the fielder without troubling the score, after a good-length delivery from England quick Brydon Carse.

This dismissal brought the in-form Keacy Carty to the crease with Brandon King, which seemed to be a good move, as King gracefully reached a 50-run milestone alongside Carty by the halfway stage of the innings. The West Indies, this time, were looking quite positive in contrast to the first ODI, as the score was 146–1 at the halfway point of the game with King on 59 (66) and Carty on 79 (79).
Immediately after this, the veteran England leg-spinner Adil Rashid removed Brandon King, who at the time was looking like the force West Indies fans were accustomed to. This dismissal then brought none other than West Indies captain and pioneer Shai Hope, who complemented Carty as he reached his fourth ODI hundred in 10 innings at just under a run a ball. After looking to push on from his three-figure score, Carty was stumped on 103 (105) after coming down the pitch to a well-directed ball by English spinner Will Jacks.
This dismissal brought the highly anticipated Shimron Hetmyer, who was looking to make a defining impact on the game. Adil Rashid spoiled his party, as he was dismissed leg-before-wicket by a straightening ball that was predicted to hit the middle stump upon review. With this dismissal came Justin Greaves, who tried to accompany Shai Hope in pushing on the score, but only managed to contribute a run-a-ball 22. This was followed by Forde, Chase, Motie, and Joseph, who didn’t trouble the scorers much, and the West Indies fell to 308 all out with just over 2 overs remaining.
A slightly disappointing effort with the bat from the men in maroon, all things considered, as they failed to capitalise on England’s poor fielding efforts to really put them under pressure with a mammoth total to chase. Instead, the Windies posted a below-par score of 308, which gave their bowling unit a difficult task to defend.
Commendably, the opening seamers Jayden Seales and Matthew Forde got the West Indies off to a flying start by claiming the English opening pair of Smith and Duckett for a duck a-piece. Seales got Smith to nick a beautiful delivery outside off stump four balls into his spell, while Forde capitalised on the dismissal of Duckett by building up some pressure before luring him into chasing a wide delivery, which was happily gobbled up by Seales at deep third man.
With both Joe Root and Harry Brook at the crease, England aimed to steady the ship by building a much-needed partnership between their two best batsmen. A mixture of aggression from Brook and patience from Root saw the pair take the score from 2–2 to 87–2 before Alzarri Joseph entered the attack and took both Brook and Buttler’s wickets with some quick, high-quality fast bowling. With England 93–4, the West Indies were in a very good position to take full control of the match and go on to claim victory.
However, with Joe Root still at the crease, the English always felt that they were never too far away from stamping their authority on the run chase. And so said, so done. Root gradually chipped away at the total by steadily rotating the strike and capitalising on any loose deliveries from the West Indian bowlers — a masterclass in simple yet effective batting. His partnership with Will Jacks proved to be a key turning point in the contest, as they rallied deep into the innings to bring the scenario down to less than a run-a-ball required before Jacks’ dismissal.
After adding to his four previous centuries against the West Indies in One Day Internationals, Root showed intent to wrap up both the game and the series with a flurry of boundaries off the bowling of Justin Greaves and Roston Chase in particular. He took charge in the final stages of the game to reach his highest score in ODIs and to lead his team to victory with a stunning on-drive in the penultimate over of the game.
All in all, the West Indies can take away quite a few positives from their contest in Cardiff. The batting unit showcased that they are more than capable of putting together a solid score, once they bat collectively instead of relying on individual brilliance to rescue them from dire situations. Additionally, the bright sparks in the bowling department — Seales, Forde and Joseph — demonstrated their abilities to trouble even the best batting line-ups in the world, once they remain consistent. Unfortunately, the evident gap in quality between the two teams was expertly exploited by Joe Root, who strengthened his case as England's best ever ODI batsman, after surpassing the seven-thousand run milestone. Another series defeat for Darren Sammy’s men means that they must revisit the drawing board, as it pertains to their selections and intentions to get West Indies back to the top of the One Day International standings.
Next up: England versus West Indies at The Oval.
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