'He started bowling lower than Malinga': Jonny Bairstow trolls Joe Root, tells him 'it's either you or me' in The Hundred clash

Welsh Fire's wicketkeeper-batter Jonny Bairstow had a good day at the office against Trent Rockets in the 14th match of The Hundred Men's Competition 2024. Bairstow turned out to be the difference between the two teams on a tricky wicket at Trent Bridge, Nottingham with his 45-ball 55. However, his battle with Joe Root on and off-the-field took centrestage. In the mid-innings interview, he went on to compare Root’s point of release to that of former Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga. 
 

“Yeah, he bottled it, didn't he? He didn't even chuck one up. I said to him before he came on, 'Its me or you here'. Then the next thing is he starts bowling lower than Malinga. I couldn't believe it, so yeah, he'll be getting some stick for that," Bairstow said. 
 

Root bowled in the middle overs and was hard to hit for a boundary. However, Bairstow managed to hit one as Root bowled 10 balls in a row. He employed the sweep shot to beat the short fine leg fielder for a boundary.

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Part-time off-spinner Root was impressive with the ball as he conceded 19 runs from 20 balls and also bagged the wicket of Welsh Fire skipper Tom Abell. He played a major role in restricting Welsh Fire's score to 129/6.

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Trent Rockets botched up another run chase. Root scored 17 runs from 15 balls before he was run out by Joe Clarke and Bairstow. Later, Rashid Khan was run out as well. All top six batters of Trent Rockets got a start but failed to convert them into big scores. Sam Hain remained unbeaten for 22 off 26 balls and could not get Trent Rockets over the line. They managed to post 125/8 in the run chase and lost by a small margin of four runs.
 

Bairstow named ‘Player of the match’

“Slightly low scoring game. We got the skills to defend. There were always opportunities. There was wind coming in and that helped. The fielding was exemplary. The players were up for the challenge. We will see what happens in the next game. This game is a great leveller as well. We will take one game at a time and take a positive step forward,” Bairstow said in the post-match presentation.
 

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