'He could lend me one of his Test 100's' - Alex Lees after Joe Root leads to his run-out at Edgbaston

England opener Alex Lees feels that Joe Root owes him a hundred after the former captain got him run out for 56 at Edgbaston. While batting on the fourth day of the Test, Lees pushed a ball to a short fine leg on Ravindra Jadeja’s delivery directly into the hands of Mohammed Shami, but Root had already called for a run. Lees started the run late and Shami quickly threw the ball to Jadeja at the non-striker’s end to run him out.

This was a big blow for the hosts who lost their third wicket on 109 while chasing 378. Lees was playing on 56 off just 65 and was looking set for a hundred. He was run out in the second innings of the last Test match against New Zealand as well. At the end of the day, while speaking in the press conference, Lees said that he felt gutted and jokingly asked Root for lending one of his centuries.

“Yeah, I mean, he (Joe Root) could lend me one of his Test 100’s. He has got plenty of them. But no, yeah, I mean, I saw him briefly when he came off the field and, obviously, gutted. I think that, on a personal level, obviously being run-out in two innings now is, obviously, quite hard to take,” Lees said.

He will get the job done tomorrow: Alex Lees

Lees’s wicket came after two back-to-back wickets of Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope and England were down to 109/3 from 107/0. But in-form batters Root and first-innings centurion Jonny Bairstow stabilized the innings and went on to score unbeaten fifties at Edgbaston. Root is playing on 76* off 112 and is going towards his 28th Test century. England just needs 119 runs on day five with seven wickets in hand and Lees is happy about his run-out not costing a match.

“But the pleasing thing, for me, is that we are in an amazing position as a team and I have run-out people in my career – it is a horrible feeling. It is nothing that you obviously mean to do. So yeah, I mean, he (Joe Root) is a top guy and, hopefully, he will get the job done tomorrow (lead England to victory on Tuesday),” Lees added.