Ricky Ponting Shuts Down Kevin Pietersen With Sharp Response To Joe Root Praise On Live TV. Watch | Cricket News

The opening Ashes encounter between Australia and England still remains wide open at Edgbaston, with both teams still within the shout to win the contest. After Australia bowled out England for 273 in the second innings, setting themselves a 281-run target to chase, the hosts picked up three wickets before the end of play on Day 4 to pull themselves back. With the bat, one of the batters who left a lasting impression was Joe Root. Though he only made 40, the manner in which he played seemed to have really rattled the Australian players.

In a chat with Ricky Ponting, even former England captain Kevin Pietersen went ga-ga over Root’s performance, saying how he ‘owned the game’. However, Ponting wasn’t keen to see Pietersen sing praises for Root, and he shut him down on live camera.

“Joe Root owned the game. He ran the game, he was pure quality and he just owned that space, with (Australia) scratching their heads going ‘what do we do?'” Pietersen said.

In reponse, Ponting quipped: “Well, he’s out now. He got 40”. Here’s the video:

Late on Monday, Broad struck twice before Australia ended the fourth day of the first Test on 107-3, needing a further 174 runs to reach the 281 they require for victory on Tuesday’s final day.

The target is one run fewer than Australia were set in a stunning finale at the Birmingham ground 18 years ago, when England prevailed by just two runs en route to a 2-1 series triumph.

Broad wants England to be involved in an Ashes triumph that equals the celebrated 2005 campaign even though the veteran seamer is hoping to avoid a repeat of that dramatic finale at Edgbaston.

With AFP inputs