Keeping cool head vital to victory
JONNY Bairstow believes a calm start with the bat put England on the road to victory against Bangladesh.
The World Cup hosts posted a heavy first-innings total of 386 for eight at Cardiff, the highest of the tournament to date, building around a century opening stand between Bairstow and Jason Roy.
The latter went on to dominate proceedings, smashing five of his side’s 14 sixes in a bruising knock of 153, but there was plenty of hard work to do before the floodgates opened.
The pair were unusually cautious against the new ball, but hit the accelerator once set.
“We had 15 off five overs, I wouldn’t exactly say we were ‘going off’ at the start,” admitted Bairstow, who took nine deliveries to get off the mark then reached a run-a-ball half-century.
“It was one of the slowest starts we’ve had but to then catch up and play in the way we did, it wasn’t a case of running down the wicket trying to slog it, they were just good cricket shots. That is just what we have done over a period of time.
“I think we’ve played better but there’s always going to be things you try to improve on.”
Bairstow was called on to take the wicketkeeping gloves for the Bangladesh innings, with Lancashire’s Jos Buttler resting after injuring his right hip while batting.
England will monitor the latter over the coming days and are likely to leave it late before deciding whether or not Buttler is fit to take on the West Indies next Friday. ●