England captain Joe Root on Thursday (January 21) asked his teammates to “play smart cricket” in the second and final Test against Sri Lanka starting January 22 while reminding the tourists that the Islanders have a great record at the Galle International Stadium
England won the first Test at the same venue Galle by seven wickets on the back of stunning performance from Root, Dom Bess, and Jack Leach.
It was England’s record 4th successive Test victory away from home for the first time in 64 years and now Root is aiming to win five Tests in a row for the first time since 1913 on foreign soil by winning the final Test at Galle.
Ahead of the final Test on Friday, Root also warned England not to get ahead of themselves and don’t just be happy with their first Test victory as he called for “some good stuff” over the five days to register another record victory against Sri Lanka before traveling to India for four-Test series next month.
Root told reporters: “Sri Lanka is a proud team and has a great record at this ground so we have to play smart cricket again. We can't be happy with what we have achieved on this trip so far, we need to get better. We can't get ahead of ourselves and think we’re something we’re not.”
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The skipper further added, “This will not be an easy game, we will have to play some good stuff for five days if we want to keep taking steps forward as a team.”
Meanwhile, Root has also confirmed that Moeen Ali will not be available for selection for the second Test despite being released from COVID-19 quarantine earlier this week, which means Bess and Leach, who each picked up five-wicket hauls in the first Test, are set for another masterstroke at Galle.
He further noted, “The two spinners (Dom Bess and Jack Leach) had success, but both have great attitudes where they want to get better and improve their performances.”
On the other hand, Sri Lankan all-rounder Angelo Mathews asked his teammates to learn from Root on how to master the Galle wicket –where the latter scored 228 in the first Test last week.
Mathews said: “Joe Root played a magnificent inning, we can learn a lot from the way he batted. You have to find that tempo, especially in these conditions.”
He signed off by saying, “A traditional Galle wicket is very slow and takes a turn, so you need to be able to find the shots according to each bowler. We need to be able to understand what we can and what we can't do on these wickets against their bowlers.”
(With Reuters Inputs)
