Ollie Pope reveals why England did not play in Bazball style in second innings against Sri Lanka
The England batters did not play in the typical Bazball way in the second innings in Manchester vs. Sri Lanka and Ollie Pope revealed why.
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Ollie Pope, Joe Root (Via X)
England defeated Sri Lanka by 5 wickets to manage a convincing win at Old Trafford Cricket Ground in Manchester to extend their winning streak in their home summer. However, when they were 70/3 at one stage while chasing the target of 205 runs in the second innings, the England batters did not play in the typical Bazball way and resorted to playing conservatively to chase down the target.
England’s stand-in captain, Ollie Pope, has talked about it in details. Pope stated that his team is not a one-dimensional team. They will read the state of the pitch, the nature of the situation and play their game accordingly.
I think another day you might see us try and knock that score off in 20 overs fewer but that was the nature of the pitch and a pretty slow outfield as well. This is not just a one-dimensional team where we want to go out and score quickly. It's a team where we want to keep reading situations slightly better and try and be as ruthless as we can.Pope said at the press conference
Since, Brendon McCullum took over as England’s head coach in Test and Ben Stokes as Test captain, the team has played an aggressive brand of cricket and the batters have always gone for their shots in every situations. It does not matter if they are down after losing wickets. The English batters have continued playing their shots and taking the attack to the opposition. However, here at 70/3, Root played conservatively and scored 62 runs off 128 balls. On the other hand, Harry Brook scored 32 runs off 68 balls.
Ollie Pope shares an update on Mark Wood who suffered an injury
Mark Wood, England’s premier fast bowler, suffered an injury scare and had to sit out on Day 4 of the first Test match at Old Trafford. As per reports, he will not be part of the second Test match at the Lord’s Cricket Ground. However, Pope clarified that the team management will take a call on Wood just before the start of the second Test match on August 29.
Coming to the game, Sri Lanka scored 236 runs while batting first in the first innings. England replied back with 358 runs in their first innings. The Lankan Lions managed to score 326 runs in their second innings and gave a target of 205 runs for England to chase. The English batters achieved this target with the loss of 5 wickets in 57.2 overs in the second innings.
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Rohit Sarkar
(273 Articles Published)