England defeated New Zealand in the first Test at Lord’s thanks to Joe Root’s bat magic. And, with a match-winning hundred against New Zealand, the 31-year-old cricketer became only the second England batter to reach 10,000 Test runs.
While the former England captain’s amazing feat received widespread acclaim, it wasn’t just that factor that drew the attention of spectators. It was a strange video of Joe Root standing at the non-striker’s end that went viral. In a widely shared video, Root’s bat appears to be standing on its own, bewildering Twitter users.
Joe Root’s bat-balancing ‘magic’ went viral on social media almost immediately. And Twitter users flocked in, many of whom were trying to make sense of the sorcery they had just witnessed.
Meanwhile, England defeated New Zealand by five wickets in the Lord’s Test to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
With his century, Joe Root became the 14th batsman in history to reach the milestone of 10,000 career Test runs. He was also the joint youngest player to score 10,000 Test runs, matching former England captain Alastair Cook’s record of 31 years and 157 days.