Needing to win their final Super 10 match to seal a semi-final berth from Group 1, lead England batsman Joe Root admitted the team had not been able to play consistent cricket despite their wins over
Needing to win their final Super 10 match to seal a semi-final berth from Group 1, lead England batsman Joe Root admitted the team had not been able to play consistent cricket despite their wins over South Africa and Afghanistan.
Ahead of their last league match, against defending champions Sri Lanka here on Saturday, Root said, “If we’re being honest, we’ve not consistently well. Times we’ve bowled extremely well and when we’ve batted well. The exciting thing for me is, when that comes together we’ll be a very hard side to beat.
“We have not performed at our best throughout the competition, which in a way is quite exciting because we know that’s still to come. The really pleasing thing for me is we’re finding ways of winning games of cricket. As long as we can continue to do that, all we can worry about is making sure we get that win tomorrow and give ourselves the best chance of qualifying,” Root said.
“There’s always pressure to perform. We know it’s a must-win game but it’s been like that since we got here. You can only afford to lose one game, and even then you can crash out of the competition. But the pressure’s no more than it has been throughout the whole thing.”
England have looked uncertain against spin, and Root said every batsman had to find their own way of handling a situation. “Ultimately, it’s about playing the situation in front of you, reading the wicket, reading the score if you’re chasing, and making sure you’re working with your partner to whittle it down and take the game away from the opposition.
“Everyone has their own way of playing it. There is no right or wrong way. For me it’s about trying to face as few dot balls as possible and trying to cash in on the boundaries when they’re available. Every surface is different. Sometimes you might have to face a few balls to get accustomed to it.”
The approach against Sri Lanka, the Yorkshireman said, would be not to lose too many wickets. “You never want to lose wickets. But you’ve always got to look to put a score on the board. Our approach might have been wrong in the last game and that’s what we’ve got to put right tomorrow.”
