Veteran batter Joe Root stayed unbeaten on 99 as England registered a four-wicket victory over India in the second ODI at Cardiff on Thursday (July 16).
Chasing a target of 234, England’s top and middle order crumbled, putting the team in a precarious position at 125/5.
However, Root (99*) held the innings together and was supported by crucial cameos from Will Jacks (30), Sam Curran (26), and Gus Atkinson (23*) to steer the hosts across the line with 35 deliveries remaining.
Root’s heroics left the three-match series tied at 1-1, and he was mighty pleased for stepping up in a must-win game for England.
“[On England levelling the series despite missing out on a hundred] Absolutely. And that's what the game's about. 1-1 in the series going into Lord's. And in those conditions, on that pitch, just to be there at the end and get the job done is probably the best feeling you can get in cricket,” Root said at the post-match presentation.
Root, who was adjudged Player-of-the-Match, remained stranded on 99* when Atkinson struck the winning boundary, setting up a decisive third match at Lord's. However, he emphasized that securing victory for the team matters infinitely more than personal milestones.
“[On being stranded on 99] I've got out a few times, funny, but no. But like I said, that's not what you play for. You play to win games. And this series is very much alive now, which is what we intended at the start today. And I'm very much looking forward to a big game at Lord's now,” he added.
Root credited the bowlers for restricting India to an achievable total on a tough pitch, allowing the batters to soak up pressure and win "scrappy and ugly".
“[On the key to the chase and the batting conditions] Yeah, I think throughout the whole game it was difficult to bat. And I think our bowlers did a brilliant job once they got that partnership, to peg them back to that score, gave us the opportunity to bat time and to soak up a bit of pressure in different periods of the game, if and when we needed to. And I thought we did that well on the whole. And obviously to get across the line, sometimes you've got to win scrappy and ugly. And like I say, we now go to Lord's with everything to play for,” he remarked.
Before this victory, the England ODI team had faced immense media and fan scrutiny for their poor win-loss record over the previous 30 matches. Root, however, argued that evaluating the squad over that long timeframe was unfair.
“[On England's ODI team and whether recent criticism is justified] Well, it depends how you look at it. I mean, you could look at the last 30 games and look at our record, or you could look at the here and now. And I think this team should be judged on the here and now. We won in Sri Lanka, the first team to win there for four years. And similarly to that series, we lost the first game, learned lessons, and evolved and got better and adapted. And that's exactly what we did again today. The challenge is, can we do it at Lord's when the pressure's on against, again, a brilliant team, the number one-ranked team in the world. For us to stand up and play like that, I think, shows where we are and is a good benchmark for us. So, let's back it up again at Lord's. And then I think there's a very different look to, or perception to where this team is. I think it's in a different place to where some might think it is,” he concluded.
