Australian paceman Michael Neser has had quite an Ashes tour this summer despite limited opportunities. Neser led the command to Australia’s comeback in the second session of Day 2, when he dismissed Joe Root, the English veteran, with a joint effort of a surprising bouncer and some electrifying effort on the field.
Australia dominated the Ashes for the first three games and secured its control over the Trophy. However, England staged a fightback in a ‘lucky’ encounter at the MCG during the Boxing Day Test. Even the ICC had ruled the MCG pitch as unsatisfactory, since it offered too much lateral movement and was almost an unplayable track for batters.
Going into the SCG Test, Australia were eyeing just another win in the WTC cycle; however, England were not only eyeing a WTC or an Ashes win but were also looking forward to restoring the lost honour of Bazball. Even head coach Brendon McCullum’s future largely depends on the outcome of the Sydney Test.
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Joe Root left baffled by Michael Neser’s electrifying effort on the field
England Test veteran and masterclass batter Joe Root finally broke the shackles during the first innings of the Sydney Test. The great batter whose form and class have been unmatchable in the longest format of the game in recent years did not have a convincing run in these Ashes, except for his maiden Test hundred in Australia, coming in the second Test at Brisbane.
The SCG, which is often called one of the finest tracks in Australia to bat on, witnessed Joe Root getting to his second hundred on Australian soil. The veteran English batter scored a century and continued batting flawlessly till he went past the 150-run mark.
Batting on 160, he was bamboozled by a short delivery from Michael Neser. Neser’s delivery was sharply directed towards the batter’s chin, and Root popped it up; however, Neser’s brilliance didn’t end there, as he dove full-stretch and took a stunning return catch. That brought an end to a masterclass show from the England great.
It took an absolute blinder from Michael Neser to dismiss Joe Root, who departs for 160 #Ashes pic.twitter.com/tqgTTDGBkZ
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 5, 2026
Joe Root ends Ashes tour on a firm note after a roller-coaster series
Root has been the top performer in Tests of this decade and in the history of the WTC. Every year since the start of the WTC, Root has been among the highest scorers in the year wrap-ups and is the most consistent member of the clan.
He is also the highest centurion in WTC history, surpassing all of his former competitors in the Fab Four. However, entering the Ashes Root had several hopes to lead his team to victory in the Australian islands, especially in the absence of his rivals Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, who had dismissed him on several occasions.
Root had a modest run in the Ashes, with scores of 0, 8, 138*, 15, 19, 39, 0 and 15 until the SCG Test. With just 234 runs after 8 innings, Root averaged 33.43, probably his lowest in a Test series of recent years. After the SCG hundred, Root now has 394 runs and averages 49.25 with two hundreds in the series, which seems very much like Root.
Root is less than 2000 runs away from breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s massive record
With the latest century at SCG, Joe Root now has 13,937 runs in his Test career and hence is just 1,984 runs behind the great Sachin Tendulkar’s tally of 15,921 runs in Test cricket. Root, who is in fine form, might continue to play for England till the end of the next WTC and hence, would have enough opportunities to break the master blaster’s record.
Root, anyway, was the first batter from England to surpass 20000 international runs and has 41 Test hundreds. He who is now levelled with Ricky Ponting’s record of most Test hundreds would also eye Sachin Tendulkar’s tally of 51 Test centuries. Tendulkar’s former record of 49 ODI hundreds was broken by Virat Kohli, the Indian batting legend.
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