Watch: 'Shocked' Joe Root starts smiling as Gudakesh Motie castles him with absolute beauty

West Indies spinner Gudakesh Motie, on Thursday (July 11), castled Joe Root with an absolute beauty to give his team a big breakthrough on day two of the ongoing first Test against England at Lord's.

Root was well set and was batting on 68 runs off 111 balls when he faced Gudakesh Motie in the 67th over. England were also in a strong position at that time and the West Indies were in desperate need of a breakthrough. And Gudakesh Motie delivered for his team in style.

After starting the over with two dot deliveries, he castled Root with a peach of a delivery. It was a full-length delivery on the off stump from the left-arm spinner and the former England skipper went for a drive. However, he failed to make any contact as the ball turned away a bit at the last moment, beating his outside edge before going on to hit the off stump. Root was seen smiling in disbelief as he walked back to the dressing room.

Watch the stunning delivery from Gudakesh Motie:

One more beauty by Gudakesh Motie to dismiss Joe Root!#JoeRoot #ENGvWI pic.twitter.com/veSWSMSPi3

— identity theft is a crime jim! (@bears___beets) July 11, 2024

Earlier in the day, Gudakesh Motie had also dismissed England skipper Ben Stokes with an absolute beauty. Just like Root, Stokes had gone for a drive as well but was beaten on the inside edge by a turning delivery.

Talking about the game, England were on 320 for 6 at the time of writing this report. Debutant Jamie Smith and Chris Woakes were batting in the middle for the hosts. England resumed the day on 189 for 3 with Root and Harry Brook starting the proceedings with the bat.

Both the batters went on to complete their half-centuries. They added 55 runs to the overnight score before Alzarri Joseph dismissed Brook for exactly 50 runs. 10 runs later, Motie dismissed Stokes before accounting for Root to reduce England to 287 for 6.

Earlier on day one, a sensational 7-wicket haul from debutant Gus Atkinson had helped England bowl out West Indies for a paltry total of 121 runs. No West Indies batter could even touch the 30-run mark during the innings. Zak Crawley (76) and Ollie Pope (57) then scored half-centuries to put England in the driver's seat.