England captain Joe Root feels the dramatic win in the first Test against Pakistan should hold them in good stead as they get ready to take the field for the second game starting Thursday at the Ageas Bowl.
England turned around a first-innings deficit of 107 runs to seal a three-wicket win at Old Trafford, with Chris Woakes (84*) and Jos Buttler (75) helping the hosts to gun down a target of 277.
“The most pleasing thing for me was that for the majority of the game we were behind the eight-ball, we were below our own personal standards but we managed to hang in there and stay in the game and then on that last day we showed a huge amount of skill, quality, and nous as well,” Root said on Sky Sports Cricket.
“At times we were quite smart – I think that Jos and Wiz (Woakes) marshaled that partnership very well. They saw the danger of the new ball and were quite proactive in making sure that wasn’t too big a factor. They took calculated risks and got us across the line.
“For us to be way off the mark for pretty much three days and still win, holds a lot of weight and gives the guys a huge amount of confidence because – when you’re not playing very well but still find ways to get across the line, that’s a great trait to have.
“It’s not a position we want to be in very much in the future but it’s obviously nice to know that the character is always there,” he added.
Earlier, Pakistan coach Waqar Younis said the team could cash-in on the absence of star England all-rounder Ben Stokes in the second Test.
“If he (Stokes) is not around it’s unfortunate for cricket, but there’s no doubt he is a match-winner,” said Waqar as quoted by Sky Sports.
“England will probably be a touch light in their middle order, so we’re going to talk about that and try to cash in. He’s the kind of batsman who takes the game away from you – single-handedly at times.
“But the way we bowled at him in the previous game showed we had very clear plans and executed (them) really well,” he added.
