Joe Root believes England are ready for their high stakes clash against Sri Lanka because they have been playing do-or-die cricket since day one of the World Twenty20.
The West Indies’ victory over South Africa yesterday left England with a simple equation: win in Delhi on Saturday for a spot in the semi-finals or go home early.
A Proteas success in Nagpur would have muddied the waters somewhat, but as far as Root is concerned, England’s task became clear the moment they lost their tournament opener to the West Indies. “There is always pressure to perform. We know it’s a must-win game but it’s been like that since we got here,” Root said.
“For us it’s ultimately about winning our game, that’s all we can worry about because that’s the only way we’re going to be able to qualify.
“It’s T20. It’s a complete knockout from here on in if we want to win it. The pressure is no more than it has been since that second game. It’s all about getting over the line.”
To achieve that England know they must improve on Wednesday’s display against Afghanistan. Although a humbling defeat was averted, the Afghan spinners made short work of England’s top six, leaving serious questions over their reading of conditions.
Sri Lanka have a strong spin line-up of their own to unleash at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, led by the venerable left-armer Rangana Herath, and Root knows the trial by turn is one his side must combat better.
“It’s about learning from the mistakes we made last time in case we are on a similar pitch and face a similar attack with a lot of spin,” he assessed. “Everyone has their own way of playing spin, there’s no right or wrong way, but for me it’s about trying to face as few dot balls as possible and trying to cash in with the boundaries when they are available.”
Alex Hales missed out against Afghanistan with a sore back but returned to training on Friday, even taking part in the traditional football match before nets. That bodes well for his likely involvement, at the expense of James Vince, but the opener will face a fitness test in the morning.
England are all business now that the tournament is winding towards the business end but Root joined team-mates David Willey, Liam Plunkett, Jos Buttler and Sam Billings on a road trip to the Taj Mahal on a rare day off on Thursday.
