WOAKES NOW A MAIN MAN
ENGLAND SKIPPER FULL OF PRAISE FOR ALL-ROUNDER WHO HELPS SEAL SERIES WIN IN WEST INDIES
England captain Eoin Morgan wants his team to show their ruthless side by beating the West Indies 3-0 after wrapping up the one-day series in Antigua.
The tourists followed up their 45-run win at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium with a four-wicket success at the same ground having chased down 226 with 10 balls remaining.
The winning margin was ultimately a comfortable one, with 10 deliveries left unbowled, but at 124 for six England were pondering the prospect of another all-toofamiliar collapse.
Joe Root anchored the innings from number three, making 90 not out in 127 balls and scoring just 12 of those in boundaries, while Chris Woakes’ supporting hand of 68no was arguably even more important given the context of their 102-run stand.
Woakes had already turned in eight meticulous overs for 26 as the Windies were dismissed for 225 having chosen to bat first.
Speaking afterwards Morgan rubbished any suggestion England might ease up in Barbados on Thursday, or rotate the squad for the sake of it.
“We’ll be ruthless,” he said. “We want to win all three games and we’ll be putting out our best XI.”
Woakes may have to forego his claims to being an unsung hero of the England side since his big-money signing for Indian Premier League franchise Kolkata Knight Riders and Morgan was happy to keep the plaudits coming.
“It’s outstanding, he’s a guy who just keeping giving within this team,” he said.
“He has huge experience as well and is someone who goes without the majority of the praise sometimes, which is typical of his character.
“But this is not the first time he’s done it. He just keeps producing. We don’t want to rely on him too much but he’s a luxury to have down the order.
“The period where we lost three or four wickets was a bit of a concern but the positive side of that is we came back with a bit of character.
“A partnership of 102 for the seventh wicket between your opening bowler and your best batsman ... you’ve got to take your hat off to them.”
Root, who was perhaps fortunate to edge Woakes to the man-of-the-match award, insists England were never too concerned.
Given England’s recent history of collapses that may include some bravado but Root said Jason Roy’s quickfire 52 at the head of the innings gave some muchneeded leeway when times got tough.
“We got a very good start and Jason played extremely well. He set the tone and that takes the pressure off the guys after him,” said Root.
“We were miles ahead of the rate and that meant when the spinners came on it allowed us the opportunity to score slower and still be ahead of the game.
“We could accept the odd over with only one or two off it knowing we’d be able to catch up if we needed to at the end.
“We knew if a couple of us could bat for 10 overs, one of us get 70 or 80 not out, we’d win the game so it was just about being patient.”
Casting his mind forward to this summer’s Champions Trophy on home soil, Root also found reason for cheer in England’s manner of victory.
“Chris took the pressure off me in the end,” he said. “I think that’s the sign of a good side, we don’t rely on a couple of players and we bat all the way down. It’s setting us up nicely for what could be a really exciting end to this series.”