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Root happy with winning start ahead of big summer


Bangladeshpost
Published : 07 May 2019 06:54 PM | Updated : 06 Sep 2020 12:11 AM

Joe Root expressed his delight at England’s winning start, ahead of what is set to be a gruelling summer of cricket, featuring the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, followed by a home Ashes series, reports ICC.

England edged past Ireland by four wickets in a one-off ODI in Dublin, before kicking off their series against Pakistan with a seven-wicket win in the only T20I in Cardiff.

Root said that victory against the No.1-ranked T20I side in the world was a step in the right direction as they gear themselves up for the World Cup. "It's exciting to see the crux of the squad together and to start the journey of the summer," he said. "And for us to find a way of winning two games, I know this is a different format, but the majority of the squad will be around for the 50-over stuff.

"It was a great chance for us to start going in the right direction, to get some momentum going into the one-day series. It's really pleasing to be two from two and, hopefully, now carry that forward throughout those five games."

Making the win more pleasing was the fact that it came in the absence of several regular players. England were sans Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes, to name a few, for the Pakistan T20I.

In their absence, opening batsman James Vince, who is filling in for the injured Jason Roy, did well with a 27-ball 36 to set the tone for England’s successful chase of 174, while Joe Denly laid the finishing touches with 20* off 12 balls.

Also giving a glimpse of his talent was the highly-acclaimed Jofra Archer, who returned 2/29 in four overs in a high-scoring game. "You could see the value of what he could bring to a side, that extra bit of zip," Root said of Archer. "He is someone that wants to get into the game and make things happen, which is a brilliant quality to have.