England captain Joe Root miraculously survives as 86mph ball hits stumps but fails to knock off bails during Ashes
JOE ROOT miraculously survived after James Pattison’s 86mph ball rattled his stumps but failed to knock off the bail on day two of the first Ashes Test against Australia.
England went for a lunch break trailing the Aussies by 213 runs with nine wickets still intact following an impressive morning session at Edgbaston.
In bizarre scenes, Root, 28, was first given out caught behind as it appeared he nicked the ball following Pattison’s delivery.
The Yorkshire hero quickly called for a review with DRS showing it in fact missed his bat.
But it turned out the noise came from the the stumps – which were hit hard by the ball only for the bail to extraordinarily stay in place.
A huge grin instantly appeared on Root’s face, adding to Australia’s misery.
And England fans took to Twitter to rejoice over their skipper’s luck.
Danny wrote: “Cricket gods are on England’s side today.”
While Craig added: “That’s our specially manufactured, English stumps!”
Marcus said: “You LUCKY boy Root! Must have stashed a bunch of clovers in his shoes…”
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And Reg added: “Sandpaper for Smith, superglue for Root?”
England were desperate to go past Australia’s total of 284 following Steve Smith’s heroic 144 yesterday.
Stuart Broad captured an impressive 5-86 on day one, reducing Australia to rubble at 122-8, before Smith masterminded their remarkable recovery.