Cricket We must be more ruthless, admits Root
ENGLAND captain Joe Root called on his side to show more steel in the big moments after India completed a day five demolition job at the Kia Oval.
A see-saw series swung back in the tourists’ favour as they roared to a 157-run victory in the fourth LV= Insurance Test, taking an unassailable 2-1 lead with one to play.
A week ago it was England celebrating a resounding victory at Headingley and plotting a triumphant end to the summer but when the pressure was on, they blinked.
They failed to clear up the India tail in both innings, allowing them to add vital lower-order stands at both ends of the game, and treated their own wickets too lightly.
A 99-run first-innings lead could easily have been doubled with greater application and when a record chase of 368 seemed too far
yesterday, they did not have the resolve to hang around for a draw.
Instead, they were rattled out for 210 and face the prospect of losing two home series for the first time since 1986. Root said: “It’s disappointing and frustrating. To lose all 10 wickets and be bowled out is hard to take for the lads in the changing room.
“But I actually think where it was lost, where we could really have stamped our authority on things, was earlier in the game. We should have got a bigger lead first time round, it would have been nice to have another 100 runs, actually, and then we’re looking at a very different game.
“We’ve got to be a little bit more ruthless with those first-innings runs - and with our catches, some of them were extremely difficult.
“But it has to be said, at the same time, you give chances and halfchances to world-class players and they take them. We’ve seen that throughout this game. There have been periods where we were ahead and we had a great, great chance to be sat here with something to show for the week.”