England look to ‘spirit of Headingley’
We have fighting chance of chasing 376, says Thorpe Unbeaten Burns leads way as tourists reach 121 for one
England have a “fighting chance” of repeating their Headingley heroics of the summer by securing a come-from-behind win in the first Test against South Africa here, according to assistant coach Graham Thorpe.
In their second innings, England were 121 for one at the close of day three in pursuit of an unlikely target of 376 runs to win. But the way in which Rory Burns, who was 77 not out, batted with support from Dominic Sibley and the unbeaten Joe Denly gave England hope they could yet mount an unlikely turnaround. Against Australia at Headingley in August, England chased down a target of 359, with Ben Stokes hitting a stunning 135 not out.
“Test-match cricket is about dealing with literally every day,” Thorpe said. “Get up in the morning, come with the right attitude again and hopefully from our point of view do something really special again.
“We’ll wake up tomorrow and we’ll have a chance in this match,” Thorpe said. “I would say it’s a long shot, we’ll have to play very well, but we’ve given ourselves a fighting chance.”
Thorpe said that England could be inspired by their remarkable onewicket victory at Headingley.
“There’s a lot of runs to get, but there is belief in our dressing room and maybe that’s because of what the players achieved in the summer.
“We’ll keep fighting all the way in this team and if we have a good first session, take the Test match deep, who knows?
“South Africa will think if they get a couple of early wickets the game is theirs. We will come with the right attitude again and hopefully do something really special again.”
If England are to complete a famous run chase and take a 1-0 lead in the four-Test series, they will need to do so with a squad depleted by illness. The number to have suffered from the bug at some stage now is up to 10 after both Jos Buttler and Joe Root were forced to be absent for vast swathes of South Africa’s second innings.
Indeed, had a second England wicket fallen last night, Root would not have come out to bat in his normal position at four, as he was not deemed well enough, and the spot would have gone to Stokes.
England hope that both Root and
Buttler will be well enough to bat in their normal positions today. “They will both benefit from a night’s sleep again and that’s what is even more important about the way we played today,” Thorpe said. “If we were three or four down, it probably would have been a struggle for them.
“It’s been an interesting build-up for us and the Test itself has been ups and downs. All we’ve really tried to do is stay level in the dressing room.”
Away from the Test, England are at risk of a points deduction in the World Test Championship on account of their slow over-rate throughout this Test. Not helped by the absence of a specialist spinner in their side, England were well short of the required rate in both innings, and now face possible sanctions.