Pakistan vs England 2022

Joe Root stuns fans by batting left-handed against Pakistan in the first Test

England declared during tea with a 342-run lead.

Dec 4, 2022 5:14 pm

The first Test match between England and Pakistan is currently underway. During day 4 of the Test at Rawalpindi, former England skipper, Joe Root left everyone surprised as he decided to bat left-handed during his 73-run knock.

The fans saw Joe Root turn into a left-handed batter in the 23^rd of the innings while facing Zahid Mahmood. He played a sweep shot toward the mid-wicket region on the very first ball he faced but couldn’t collect any run off that.

On the second ball, he again tried the same shot and the ball went in the air but fell just short of Naseem Shah, who did get the fingertips on that. A video of the incident has gone viral on the internet. You can watch the clip here:

Joe Root decides to bat left-handed 😳#PAKvENG | #UKSePK pic.twitter.com/GOvnkof54B

— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) December 4, 2022

Root went on to play a stellar knock of 73 runs in just 69 balls, including 6 fours. Earlier, Will Jacks claimed the rest of the three wickets to bundle out Pakistan for 579 runs in their second innings.

England came out to bat again and continued to play in an aggressive fashion. At Lunch on day 4, they had lost 2 wickets for 46 runs on the board. Joe Root and Zack Crawley then steadied the ship with a 60-run partnership.

Crawley perished off Mohammad Ali in the 14^th over after scoring 50 runs in 48 deliveries, including 7 fours. But Root kept scoring boundaries at the other end. He then added 96 runs for the fourth wicket with Harry Brook to help the team take the lead past 250.

Root played a stellar knock of 73 runs in 69 balls, while Harry Brook top-scored for England in that innings, amassing 87 runs in 65 deliveries. His knock was laced with 11 fours and 3 sixes.

Surprisingly, England were seven wickets down for 264 runs and they decided to declare the innings. With four sessions left, England set a target of 342 runs for Pakistan to win the match.

At the time of writing, Pakistan have lost two wickets for just 42 runs on the board.