Ahead of the first Test against India at Edgbaston, England seem to have discovered a secret weapon in their bowling department. Joe Root, the England Test skipper, ran through the Lancashire batting line-up on Tuesday (July 22) as Yorkshire defeated their arch-rivals by 118 runs at Old Trafford.

Root finished with the astonishing bowling figures of 4-5 from 7.4 overs, including five maidens. Jos Buttler, Graham Onions, Matthew Parkinson and James Anderson were his victims.

Here’s the video of Joe Root’s scalps:

Although Root impressed everyone with his part-time off-spin, his purpose to spend some valuable time in the middle against the red-ball was dealt a major blow as he got out cheaply in both the innings of Roses clash.

In the first innings, Root was one of the victims of Lancashire all-rounder Jordan Clark, who claimed a dream hat-trick. While Root and Kane Williamson were trapped LBW, Jonny Bairstow was caught behind the wicket off three successive deliveries from Clark. Root made 22 when he was dismissed and the duo of Williamson and Bairstow didn’t manage to open their account.

The England Test captain fell for just three in the second innings. He was caught behind off the bowling of England pace spearhead James Anderson.

Yorkshire, the White Rose county, were dismissed for 192 in the first innings but took a handy lead of 90 runs as Lancashire, the Red Rose county, slumped to 102 all out in reply. In the second innings, Bairstow’s 82 guided Yorkshire to 239. Lancashire got bundled out for 204 in their second innings to concede the bowler-dominated match by a huge margin.  

The much-awaited five-Test series between England and India will commence on August 1.