Joe Root. (Source – Photo by Stu Forster – ECB/ECB via Getty Images)
England were in a dicey situation on Day 4 of the first Test against Sri Lanka in Manchester. Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews put up a good show with the bat, which was followed by a century from Kamindu Mendis. The trio helped Sri Lanka post 326 runs on the board in their second innings and with that, England had over 200 runs to chase in the final innings of the Manchester Test.
It was not an easy task and got difficult with time. The Ollie Pope-led side was reduced to 70/3, giving Sri Lanka some hope to get the job done. However, Joe Root reigned supreme as he boycotted Bazball and played the role of an anchor to help England win the game by five wickets. He made 62 runs and built crucial partnerships with Harry Brook and Jamie Smith to win it for England.
“I had to channel my inner Hussain I reckon,” joked Root while speaking to Nasser and Ian Ward on Sky Sports. He explained that the conditions were tough and was a tricky chase and how he had to change his approach to stick till the end.
Check the post below:
“I had to channel my inner Hussain!” 😂
Joe Root on his performance against Sri Lanka. pic.twitter.com/XRggii3coC
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) August 24, 2024
“It was a tricky one today. It was a long, slow grind, but we got there in the end. The outfield is as long as I’ve seen for a long time in England, and the wicket itself obviously lost a lot of pace throughout. So it was quite hard to time the ball, and I didn’t really feel comfortable trying to muscle it. It felt like that would bring the catchers in front of the bat into the game, so just had to accumulate in a slightly different way,” Root said.
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The former England captain also opened up on the importance of partnerships. He stitched an important 49-run partnership and 64-run partnership with Brook and Smith respectively which brought England closer to victory.
“That’s the beauty of partnerships. Someone like Brookie is always going to score freely, he hits the ball nice and firmly, and Jamie as well. He’s obviously in great form, and a natural striker, so it’s just nice to feed off each other,” Root said.