Twitter Reactions: Joe Root's unbeaten ton headlines England's day in 2nd Test vs West Indies

The second Test between West Indies and England got underway at the Kensington Oval in Barbados and it was all about the visitors on the opening day of the action. England skipper Joe Root led from the front for the umpteenth time while Dan Lawrence also batted superbly to help the team to gain early honours in the Test match.

After opting to bat first, England’s poor starts continued with Zak Crawley bagging a duck. Jayden Seales swung the new ball to strike only in the fourth over of the innings. But then some attritional Test cricket was played with both Joe Root and Alex Lees dropping anchor. The latter reminded many of Dom Sibley mustering only 30 off 138 balls. But he stitched a crucial 76-run stand with his captain before being pinned in front of the stumps by Veerasammy Permaul.

Contrasting second half for England

England scored only 80 runs for the loss of two wickets in the first half of the day (45 overs). But West Indies didn’t help themselves with some wayward bowling and poor fielding along with lack of awareness on the field. Runs came thick and fast, especially in the final session and the player of Root’s quality pounced on every opportunity to score runs.

Lawrence also responded well batting at his new position in the line-up in this series. The hosts were guilty of dropping both batters and they made them pay heavily. Moreover, the Caribbean side had created a couple of chances to send back Root – once on 23 when they didn’t review a caught-behind chance and then on 32 when Joshua Da Silva dropped his catch.

Even Lawrence was dropped by Alzarri Joseph on 72 but he was unfortunate to miss out on a well-deserved ton getting out on 91 just at the stroke of stumps. However, Root showed his class and calibre yet again making West Indies pay for letting him off. He has remained unbeaten on 119 as England ended the day on 244/3. The visiting side will be keen on posting a mammoth score while West Indies would need wickets early on the second day.

Here’s how Twitter reacted:

Rrrrrrooooooooooottttttttttttt !!

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) March 16, 2022

Look at who showed up to Kensington Oval!🙌🏾 😎🌍#MenInMaroon #WIvENG pic.twitter.com/gx3UTn2BCE

— Windies Cricket (@windiescricket) March 16, 2022

We are witnessing greatness 🙌

Scorecard: https://t.co/d2gy5BUkWH

🏝 #WIvENG 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 @Root66 pic.twitter.com/w99oG91GtM

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) March 16, 2022

Test Centuries since 1 Jan 2020 :

Joe Root 8
Babar Azam/Steve Smith/Virat Kohli 3#WIvENG

— Sooraj Ayyappan (@Sooraj_Ayyappan) March 17, 2022

Joe Leading Up front….😤#JoeRoot #WIvENG Joe Root pic.twitter.com/CAF8m4SEQe

— Resanth…🍁 (@ResanthX_) March 17, 2022

It's actually one man playing for England. After cook eng has not yet found an solid opener and struggling in fixing their middle order. Cannot believe England is in this situation. Hats off to Joe Root 🥵💯. The only player who is continuously contributing for eng. #WIvENG

— Navaneet N (@navaneet_n) March 17, 2022

25th test hundred for Rooooooooot. What a player. Surely greatest England has ever produced across formats. @root66 just don't stuck at 27th like Kohli and Smith. #WIvENG

— anish mainali (@AnishMainali17) March 17, 2022

Joe Root will become all time great batter of England Team after
Sir Alastair Cook.

Joe Root, modern day Test 🦙#WIvENG pic.twitter.com/5RJrpjBecf

— Bapunii (@Bapunii1) March 17, 2022

Only player from Fab 4, who ruiling test cricket since 2021: #JoeRoot 🙇
Only Marnus Labuschagne can give some challenge to him, because other 3 batters of fab 4 are in hibernation (especially Kane and Virat)😞.
25th century @root66 👌#WIvENG #Cricket pic.twitter.com/t8IoSh83dQ

— N I K H I L (@ImNIKDYA) March 17, 2022

Centuries for Babar Azam & Joe Root yesterday.
Yet, peak #Kohli🐐 was miles better than both of em.

How sad, the same guy struggles to go beyond 30 at Home v Sri Lanka these days. #PAKvsAUS #WIvENG #INDvSL

— Abhi Jeet (@abhi_nufc) March 17, 2022