England all-rounder Chris Woakes, on Monday, admitted that the defending champions are behind in the first-ever Ashes day-night Test, but still believe they have a winning chance in the second Ashes Test against Australia despite hosts being in a strong position, with England needing 354 runs to win the game.
In the first innings, Australia showed great character with the bat, declared at 442, but England also showed plenty of character after a poor first innings total of 227, as they have limited the hosts’ 138/10 in their second innings with the stunning show with the ball. But England’s poor show in the first innings handed Australia their big lead, as a result, they have posted a massive target of 354 runs to the tourist.
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As per AFP, Chris Woakes told reporters in Adelaide, “We’ve fought back well tonight, which is good to see and we can take some positives from that. Obviously, we’re behind in the game but we fought back and showed some good character to get back in the game and put some pressure on Australia. Anything’s chaseable really. We have to make use of those sessions in normal daylight. It’s always going to be tricky batting under the lights.”
The Warwickshire all-rounder further added, “The positive thing for us is to believe we can go forward and put Australia under pressure. It’s important we continue to do that tomorrow as well. We need to make sure we fight back and make sure this lead doesn’t get to anything too big.”
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He also praised England bowling group, who had adjusted their bowling lengths after a poor show in Australia’s first innings of 442/4d., England wrecked the hosts to 138/10 in their second innings.
Woakes concluded by saying, “We knew we had to bowl a slightly fuller length in the second innings. We were a little short the first innings. We got the rewards, got our nicks. We had to stay patient and consistently put the ball in the right areas. That was it, really. We’re here to stick together as a team. We know we didn’t play as well as we would have liked.”
