Joe Root: How does his innings compare to Kevin Pietersen, Ben Stokes & Alastair Cook?
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'Phenomenal player' - Root's best shots as he reaches 150
It was a "remarkable" innings described as the work of a "genius" and a "magician"- but just how special was Joe Root's innings against New Zealand at Trent Bridge?
The former skipper stroked 176 from just 211 deliveries to help England close in on the tourists' first-innings 553 and leave fans, commentators and pundits alike purring with appreciation.
And while he didn't last a long time on day four... he gave everyone watching a good time.
From just the second ball of the day, he played an outrageous reverse scoop shot off legendary New Zealand fast bowler Tim Southee that went over the slip cordon for six.
Root hits six with ‘incredible’ reverse scoop
It was the icing on the cake of an innings in which Root played every shot imaginable. Everything came out of the middle and almost everything raced to the boundary with balletic grace.
He reached his century from just 116 balls - the fastest of his 27 in Tests - and it was the 10th time he has reached three figures since January 2021.
It included a 187-run stand with Ollie Pope at nearly 4.5 runs an over that formed the bedrock of England's reply before cutting loose with Ben Stokes as 61 runs were added from just 56 balls - an early sign perhaps of the new, bold attacking approach demanded by new England head coach Brendon McCullum.
He then teamed up with Ben Foakes on day four in an approach to the morning of a Test rarely seen in the longest format. It was fearless theatre as boundary followed boundary.
After witnessing the six off Southee, former England captain Michael Vaughan told TMS: "Just remarkable. One of the greatest shots I have seen in Test cricket."
"Joe Root is like a magician," said former England bowler Isa Guha. "Waving his wand. Ordering the ball to go wherever he wants it to go. A staggering innings."
Sir Alastair Cook, who has scored more Test runs than any other England batter in history, purred: "What an innings. A genius at work. What a brilliant, brilliant innings. It was a pleasure to watch that."
'Talk of a batting masterclass is a bit OTT'
Cricket fans, who were following the action via a live text, Test Match Special and with in-play clips on the BBC Sport website, were certainly animated by Root's innings - though not everyone was buying into the hype surrounding the knock.
"Maybe rein in the hyperbole over Root's innings? He hit one between the slips on 20, was dropped on 27, and skied one safe on 52," said Julian. "Great to see him make big runs, even on an absolute road like this one, but talk of a batting masterclass is a bit OTT."
That certainly provoked a response, with Zarina asking "Is Julian from Cheshire a bit hangry? How can you completely dismiss such a great innings? New Zealand aren't cricket also-rans, they are the Test champions!"
There was also a healthy dose of sarcasm from Charlie, who said: "Completely agree with Julian, let's not forget in Brian Lara's so-called 'masterclass' of 501, he was bowled off a no ball and dropped early on. Bang average innings."
Others agreed with Julian and pointed out, quite correctly, that New Zealand's Daryl Mitchell actually scored more runs than Root in New Zealand's first innings (after being dropped by Root on 3!).
"Julian is being controversial but he has a wider point," said Keith. "Have we gone overboard about Root's innings when he isn't the game's top scorer and didn't get the job done this morning by steering us to a first-innings lead?"
How does Root's innings compare?
All this talk of memorable innings inevitably led to a debate about which is England's greatest ever - with former captain Sir Alastair Cook providing a couple of examples.
"Graham Gooch at Headingley [v West Indies in 1991] must be on the list. Kevin Pietersen's 180 at Mumbai [v India in 2012]. I think Root's one here goes into that list in terms of quality of batsmanship," he told TMS.
TMS viewers once again delivered some fine suggestions, including Michael Atherton's 185 against South Africa in Johannesburg in 1995, or his nerve-shredding showdown with Allan Donald at Trent Bridge three years later.
Kevin Pietersen's 158 against Australia at The Oval in 2005 was a popular choice, as was Mark Butcher's 173 not out against the same opposition in 2001 and Graham Gooch's mammoth 333 against India at Lord's in 1990.
All fantastic suggestions, but for the sake of simplicity we have narrowed things down to the last decade and come up with six choices - which you can rank below.