Joe Root became England's leading run-scorer in men's ODIs during the second match of their series against West Indies in Cardiff today (June 1), hitting a half-century to steady a big chase.
Joe Root becomes England's leading run-scorer in men's ODI cricket
Playing his 168th ODI, Root surpassed Eoin Morgan to become England's highest run-scorer in the format. Morgan scored 6,957 runs during his 225-match long career, with Root the only other batter to score more than 6,000.
He achieved the record as part of a rescuing innings after England lost both openers for ducks in a chase of 309 at Sophia Gardens. Jamie Smith was out in the first over of the chase, nicking a length ball from Jayden Seales behind to Shai Hope. Ben Duckett was out in the next over, toe-ending a wide ball to deep third man.
Root then set about stabilising the innings with an 85-run stand with Harry Brook. There was a moment of danger early on in the partnership when he was pinned on his pads in front of the stumps but not given by the umpire. West Indies immediately reviewed and it was quickly shown that Root hadn't got an inside edge on the delivery from Matthew Forde. Despite looking to be in front of all three with Root deep in his crease, DRS showed that the ball was umpires call on the top of the stumps. To add to West Indies' frustration, Brook was dropped by Hope behind the stumps off a simple chance the very next ball.
Making the most of their lives, Brook and Root took England from 2-2 when they came together, to 87-3 by the point Brook was out in the 12th over. Having let Brook take most of the strike, Root took over the main role after Jos Buttler lasted just eight balls before being dismissed, meaning England were four down still needing another 216 runs.
He went passed Morgan's record shortly before reaching his half-century, his 43rd in ODIs coming off 52 balls. When Jacob Bethell was dismissed in the 24th over for 17, Root had reached 60, and England still needed another 176 runs to win.
England's leading run-scorers in men's ODIs
| Player | Matches | Runs | Average | Hundreds | Fifties |
| Joe Root | 168 | 6,993* | 48.39 | 17 | 43 |
| Eoin Morgan | 207 | 6,957 | 39.75 | 13 | 42 |
| Ian Bell | 157 | 5,416 | 37.87 | 4 | 35 |
| Jos Buttler | 162 | 5,233* | 38.76 | 11 | 27 |
| Paul Collingwood | 197 | 5,092 | 35.36 | 5 | 26 |
| Alec Stewart | 162 | 4,677 | 31.60 | 4 | 28 |
| Kevin Pietersen | 123 | 4,422 | 41.32 | 9 | 25 |
| Marcus Trescothick | 122 | 4,335 | 37.37 | 12 | 21 |
| Graeme Gooch | 122 | 4,290 | 36.98 | 8 | 23 |
| Jason Roy | 110 | 4,271 | 39.91 | 12 | 21 |
Leading run-scorers for each team in men's ODIs, full list
| Country | Player | Runs |
| India | Sachin Tendulkar | 18,426 |
| Sri Lanka | Kumar Sangakkara | 13,975 |
| Australia | Ricky Ponting | 13,704 |
| Pakistan | Inzamam-ul-Haq | 11,701 |
| South Africa | Jacques Kallis | 11,550 |
| West Indies | Chris Gayle | 10,425 |
| New Zealand | Ross Taylor | 8,607 |
| Bangladesh | Tamim Iqbal | 8,357 |
| England | Joe Root | 6,993* |
| Zimbabwe | Andy Flower | 6,786 |
| Ireland | Paul Stirling | 6,005 |
| Afghanistan | Rahmat Shah | 3,975 |
| Scotland | Richie Berrington | 3,379 |
| Kenya | Steve Tikolo | 3,369 |
| USA | Monank Patel | 2,192 |
| Namibia | Gerhard Erasmus | 2,153 |
| PNG | Assad Vala | 2,003 |
| Netherlands | Scott Edwards | 2,000 |
| Canada | Ashish Bagai | 1,964 |
| UAE | Vriitiya Aravind | 1,865 |
| Nepal | Rohit Paudel | 1,753 |
| Oman | Jatinder Singh | 1,704 |
| Hong Kong | Anshuman Rath | 828 |
| Bermuda | Irving Romaine | 783 |
| Jersey | Josh Lawrenson | 243 |
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