West Indies get Root-ed

England were dominant against the West Indies on Friday.

Joe Root hit a century opening the batting and Barbados-born Jofra Archer took three wickets in his first game against the West Indies as an injury-hit England made it three wins from four at the Cricket World Cup with an eventful eight-wicket victory in Southampton.

Root (100 not out off 94 balls) was elevated from his usual No. 3 spot after Jason Roy tweaked his hamstring while fielding and went on to score his second hundred of the tournament, after his 107 in the defeat to Pakistan, as England reached its target of 213 with 101 deliveries to spare.

Root is only the second England batsman to notch two tons in the same World Cup after Kevin Pietersen, who reached three figures against Australia and the West Indies in the Caribbean in 2007. Friday’s century was Root’s third in all World Cups as he made history by becoming the first ever Englishman to post a trio of hundreds at the showpiece event.

England had dropped Chris Gayle and Andre Russell early in their innings but the big-hitters went on to make only 36 and 21 respectively as West Indies limped to 212 all out, with Nicholas Pooran (63) the standout.

Archer (3/30) picked up his third three-wicket haul of the World Cup and was on a hat-trick when he removed Pooran and Sheldon Cottrell from successive deliveries, while Mark Wood (3/18) also struck three times. Archer became the only Englishman to ever take three wickets in an innings on at least three separate occasions during one World Cup, according to BBC statistician Andy Zaltzman.

Root was a force with the ball, too, catching Shimron Hetmyer and Jason Holder off his own bowling as the two-time winners — who have now lost six World Cup matches in a row against England — tumbled from 3/144.

England saw skipper Eoin Morgan (back spasm) and in-form batsman Roy limp off during the West Indies' innings but the Poms’ re-jigged batting order encountered few alarms in a routine chase.

Root put on 95 with opening partner Jonny Bairstow (45) and 104 with Chris Woakes (40), who was promoted from No. 7 to No. 3, before guiding his side home alongside Ben Stokes as England moved second in the table, above Australia on net run rate, with the West Indies down in sixth spot with one victory from four fixtures.

England fans must have feared the worst when Wood — who had been passed fit to play after undergoing tests on his ankle — spilled Gayle at third man on 15 off the bowling of Woakes.

But the Jamaican, who was made to hop around by Archer, added only 21 more runs his tally before he attacked a short ball from Liam Plunkett and was caught on the deep square leg boundary by Bairstow.

Gayle left the field with a new record, though, overtaking Sir Vivian Richards as the leading run-scorer in ODIs between the sides, with his 1632 in 34 knocks topping the Master Blaster's 1619 in the same number of innings.

Plunkett's dismissal of the “Universe Boss” ended a 50-run, second-wicket partnership with Shai Hope, who was on his way two balls later for a scratchy 11 from 30 deliveries as he was pinned LBW by Wood on review.

The West Indies were 3/55 at that point — Woakes having yorked Evin Lewis (2) in the third over — only for Pooran and Shimron Hetmyer (39) to rebuild with a stand of 89 from 99 deliveries.

Root was the unlikely partnership breaker when he pouched Hetmyer's tame drive and then also caught and bowled Holder in his follow-up over, Holder dismissed off a leading edge playing for non-existent turn.

Woakes spilled Russell at deep mid-wicket off Adil Rashid on three but atoned two overs later in the same spot as the all-rounder attacked Wood — Russell launching two sixes between the drop and the dismissal.

Archer then accounted for Pooran — the left-hander given out on review with Ultra Edge showing he snicked the ball while looking to leave — Cottrell and Carlos Brathwaite (14), before Wood cleaned up last man Shannon Gabriel (0) to bowl the West Indies out in 44 overs.

England eased through its run chase, though Bairstow endured a scary moment when he was smashed on the grille by a delivery from Russell. Bairstow was fit to continue but Russell, who had returned for the West Indies after missing Monday's washout against South Africa with a knee issue, had to be helped from the field after falling in his follow through.

Bairstow was caught off Gabriel five runs shy of his half century but Yorkshire teammate Root pressed on, scoring his 16th ODI hundred from 93 deliveries and overtaking Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan as the leading run-scorer in this World Cup. THE STAR

Joe Root scored his 16th ODI century.

Joe Root's third World Cup century was the obvious highlight in this match. It moved him past Kevin Pietersen for most World Cup centuries. He may not be England's captain in short form cricket, but it was a captains knock to shorten England's odds even further of making the semi's of the World Cup. THE MOMENT

Chris Gayle could win this years Oscar for Comedy Performance after his efforts in this game.

In a game completely dominated by England, it would be hard to chose a dominant moment, so for this game we've gone something left field. Chris Gayle's entertainment whilst bowling. Not only does he have the most unique sunglasses in cricket, but he decided to bowl in them, and then a hat, twice feigning to review an appeal, dancing to warm up prior to bowling. It was a light-hearted moment that engaged the crowd that proved that he really is cricket's best entertainer.

THE FAILURE

Evin Lewis looked out of place at the top of the order.

The Windies top order must take a fair bit of the blame for their demise against England. Starting with Even Lewis (2), who couldn't negotiate a Chris Woakes in-swinger, Shai Hope also found himself dismissed for just 11. Chris Gayle at least made 36, but was typically caught on the fence in what must make you question what could have been. The Windies fell to just 3/55 with the twin wickets of Gayle and Hope just 3 balls apart, and the mountain was too far to climb for the Windies.

WHAT NEXT - The Windies take on Bangladesh on Monday, whilst England take on Afghanistan on Tuesday. TONIGHT - The Saturday double-header see's Australia and Sri Lanka battle it out from The Oval, whilst South Africa and Afghanistan will be chasing their first win against each other from Sophia Gardens.