No ill-effects for Joe after fielding clash
JOE ROOT made a measured 89 to steer England to a four-wicket win in yesterday’s second one-day international against Pakistan but admitted he was still feeling the effects of a run-in with Adil Rashid.
Root collided heavily with his Yorkshire team-mate in the Lord’s outfield as both men converged on a catch in the deep during the tourists’ innings of 251 all out.
Root showed remarkable focus to cling on to the chance despite the hefty bump and needed treatment on his right ankle in the aftermath.
The physio returned on a couple of occasions during the England innings, which Root underpinned with a disciplined anchoring effort but it did not distract him from the job at hand.
“Rash hit me pretty hard actually, it’s surprising that such a little guy would make such a strong tackle – but no dramas, it’s nothing serious,” he said.
“It was a bit of a dramatic football sort of dive in the end. I’ve never seen him tackle me like that before, not even in the five-a-side warm-ups!
“I could see him in the corner of my eye, I’m pretty sure I put my arms out and shouted to say it was my catch but he mustn’t have heard.
“He nearly headbutted my knee actually, so we got pretty lucky in that respect.”
England are now 2- 0 ahead with three to play in the Royal London series and look to have the measure of a touring side who have already been placed “on notice” by head coach Mickey Arthur, who feels they are playing oldfashioned 50-over cricket.
Assessing what was a low- key but ultimately comfortable outing at Lord’s, Root said: “The way we’re playing at the minute is brilliant – taking wickets regularly throughout the innings, scoring quite freely with the bat.
“Hopefully that can continue and we can keep gaining momentum with the wins we’re getting this summer.
“I still think there’s a lot of work to do if we want to be the best team in the world but we’re going about it the right way. Hopefully in a few years’ time, or a bit sooner, we’ll be right up there.”
Pakistan look ready for home, with opener Mohammad Hafeez already calling time on his tour.
The out- of- form opener may have lost his place anyway but withdrew here citing a problem with his left calf and will play no further part in the series.
In typically unpredictable fashion, Pakistan have replaced him with a tall fast bowler, Mohammad Irfan.
Captain Azhar Ali, who opted to bat first and bagged a duck as his side lost three wickets in the first overs, admitted Arthur had been right in his assessment of Pakistan’s ODI team.
“I think it’s clear we are a little bit behind but we’re working on it,” he said.
“It’s a change we need to keep working on and these are the best players we have. We still want to go and match the other teams and the way they are batting in one- day cricket but we are behind.
“We need to keep focusing and trying hard. This team has ability, in both games we have played some good cricket and and if we can apply ourselves more we can definitely change it around.”