Former England captain Joe Root left cricket fans stunned after footage was shared on social media of him leaving his bat stood upright on its own during the first Test against New Zealand at Lord's.
Root scored a brilliant unbeaten 115 in the second innings to guide England to a dramatic five wicket win. And during his crucial match winning partnership with Ben Foakes, Root's bat could be seen standing upright for several seconds before he picked it up.
The moment left a number of fans baffled on social media, including former England striker and BBC Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker. After the clip was shared on Twitter by the BBC's Test Match Special account with the caption "Anyone know how he did this?!", Linker replied: "He's a magician".
TV personality Piers Morgan had a similar response, tweeting: "Yes. He's a magician with the bat. @root66". One fan joked: "Its Thor's hammer in disguise!"
"I saw this at the time and thought I was still hungover from the night before, so thought nothing of it," added another. While a fourth joked: "Well it says 'New Balance' right there on it?"
In fact, Root's bat simply has a flat end instead of being slightly curved, allowing him to leave it standing up on its own. Either way, Root enjoyed great success with the bat, notching his 26th Test hundred and becoming just the 14th player to score 10,000 Test runs.
"I'd been made aware of it, but after the shot I played in the first innings, it felt a long way off," Root said when asked about the milestone after the game. "Winning was all I could think about.
"You pride yourself on winning, and it's been a long while for this team. It meant a huge amount to get over the line.
"It was very special to get the hundred and reach 10,000 runs, I can't pretend it wasn't, but nothing replicates winning games of cricket. It's such a good feeling and one I hope we can replicate through the rest of the summer."
