“Frustrating” and “disappointing”. These were the choice of words made by England Test captain Joe Root to describe his side’s performance in the fourth Test at The Oval.
England needed 291 runs to win when the final day of play began, and the game was right in the balance. After a decent start in the first session, they were 141/2 with a set Haseeb Hameed and star batsman Joe Root at the crease.
However, a string of wickets fell in a row, and England got bowled out for 210 runs. It wasn’t the first time in the series when the side collapsed on the last day of a Test match.
Root displayed his displeasure at the end of the match as this Test was looking like England’s to lose after the first day of the match:
“It’s been frustrating today to lose 10 wickets,” Root said. “But, I think, actually, where the game is lost – where we could really stamp out authority on things was earlier in the game. I think we should have gotten a bigger lead the first time round.”
The 30-year-old went on to say that England have to be more ruthless in the future as adding another 100 runs in the first innings would have put more pressure on India.
Root added that his team will have to take inspiration from the Headingley Test and bounce back at Old Trafford just like they have done earlier in the series after the loss at Lords.
England are trailing the series 2-1 and will have to bring their A-game forward to prevent India from winning a historic away series. The fifth and final Test match at Old Trafford will start on September 10.
