England vs Pakistan, ICC Cricket World Cup 2019: 'Pivot around which team revolves', Twitter reacts to Joe Root hitting tournament's first ton

England’s Joe Root scored the first hundred of the World Cup, against Pakistan at Trent Bridge, Nottingham. Chasing 349, Root had to arrive early in just the 3rd over and steady the ship, at first with Jonny Bairstow and then with Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler.

The England batsman paced his innings really well which was interlaced with 10 fours and one six. He added 130 runs with Buttler before slicing one straight to backward point off Shadab Khan.

Earlier, Mohammad Hafeez headlined a return to form for Pakistan’s batsmen at World Cup, making 84 off 62 balls in the team’s 348-8 against ragged England on the world-record batting strip at Trent Bridge.

Pakistan bounced back from being dismissed for 105 in its heavy opening loss to West Indies by setting a competitive target for England, who were uncharacteristically sloppy in the field — except for Chris Woakes, who took three fine catches in the deep.

Everyone in Pakistan’s top order got good starts, with Hafeez, Babar Azam (63) and Sarfaraz Ahmed (55) going on to score half-centuries. Hafeez was on course to post the first century of the tournament in its sixth match, only to hole out to Woakes at long-off off Mark Wood (2-53).

Here’s how Twitter reacted to Root’s ton, the first of the 2019 World Cup:

Rooooooooooooooooottttttttttttt

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) June 3, 2019

Finally, the first 💯 of #CWC19!

Joe Root brings up his century off 97 balls and becomes just the second Englishman to hit two World Cup hundreds. pic.twitter.com/3UE3fblePr

— ICC Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) June 3, 2019

The fist century maker of the World Cup, in the sixth game and not surprisingly comes from an English batsman , Joe Root.
England ‘s game to lose now #ENGvPAK

— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) June 3, 2019

So the first 100 of this world up in England came from an Englishman.Well played #Root #ENGvsPAK

— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) June 3, 2019

💯 A brilliant innings @root66!! 💯

But Pakistan take his wicket for 107.

Scorecard: https://t.co/RBTSTUleYP#WeAreEngland#CWC19#ExpressYourself pic.twitter.com/ZfuA3G4Ekm

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 3, 2019

Getting to be fascinating contest. Root may not have the pyrotechnics of Bairtstow and Butler, but is the pivot around which team revolves. Terrific century to hold the innings together after Pak had made early inroads. Now that's fallen, match opens up again...

— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) June 3, 2019

That was a stunning innings from Joe Root. He scored 61 off 59 against pace - his battle defined by his back foot play and his sublime cut shot; and 46 off 41 against spin - with clinical footwork pouncing when they dropped short. #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/QHYbKkCclR

— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) June 3, 2019

This innings is why I have Joe Root as my fav to be top run scorer in the World Cup .Cool calm and collected and goes about his business while others stick it in the bush ...

— Niall John O Brien (@niallnobiobrien) June 3, 2019

With inputs from AP

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