Towards the end of another horror day for England in the ongoing Ashes series, England captain Joe Root was hit on the box after a nasty delivery from Mitchell Starc. Root fell to the ground, evincing in pain but the commentators at the Adelaide Oval saw the funny side of the incident.

Joe Root did not take the field in the first session of Day 4 of the pink-ball Test in Adelaide after an abdomen injury in the lead up to the day’s play. Only after being taken for scans, the England captain returned to the field. However, Root was hit in the abdomen region once again and needed the physio’s attention under the floodlight on Sunday.

Pink-ball Test Day 4: Highlights

Root, fortunately, was okay to carry on, but he showed signs of discomfort. The England captain ran a single awkwardly, leaving the commentary box in splits. Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting was unable to control his laughter, looking at the way Root struggled to complete the single.

While quite a few on social media criticized the commentators’ gestures, a few others saw the funny side of things. David Warner, who was standing at the first slip, also had a smile on his face as he saw Root complete the run.

WATCH: ROOT’S AWKWARD RUN LEAVES THE COMM BOX IN SPLITS

Absolute scenes in the commentary box, completely losing it watching Joe Root run #Ashes pic.twitter.com/0CoJCSPTKD

— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) December 19, 2021

Unfortunately, Root got out in the final over of the day, ending one to wicketkeeper Alex Carey as his stiff resistance came to an end. Root batted out 67 balls for his 24 and looked to take England to the end of the day’s play without further damage but Starc’s delivery from around the wicket forced him to poke at one.

With Root’s exit, England are in a spot of bother as they are still behind Australia’s total by 386 runs. With Ben Stokes remaining unbeaten on 3 from 40 deliveries, England went to Stumps on Day 4 at 82/4.

Earlier, Marnus Labuschagne followed his first-innings century with a fifty, while Travis Head also made 51 as Australia declared their second innings on 230-9 half an hour before the tea break.

England claimed three wickets in the first session but Labuschagne and Head settled any nerves in the Australia camp before stand-in captain Steve Smith declared the innings.

West Indies hold the record for the highest successful fourth-innings chase of 418 achieved against Australia in 2003.