Centurion Joe Root saluted the contribution of Ben Stokes after England gained a 10-run lead at lunch on the third day of the third Test yesterday.
The visitors slumped to 91-4 on Day 2, but were rescued by Root (109) and Stokes (58) as the pair shared a swashbuckling stand of 111 for the fifth wicket in just under 16 overs.
“He takes pressure off you at the other end when he comes in and plays that aggressively,” Root told reporters in reference to his partner’s knock.
Photo: Reuters
“When you see someone scoring like that at the other end, putting the bowlers under pressure, it brings it out in your own game as well. He scored at over a run a ball today,” he said.
“The slips come out and the men go to the boundaries. You can then run well between the wickets because there are gaps available,” Root said.
Stokes carried on where he left off at the second test in Cape Town where he bludgeoned his way to 258 in England’s first innings.
Root, by contrast, said he had been disappointed with his own recent conversion rate.
“It was actually a bit of a relief when I managed to get past three figures,” he said.
England gained a small lead before being dismissed just before lunch yesterday, with Jonny Bairstow (45) holding together the tail before he was last man out to Kagiso Rabad, who finished with 5-78.
Moeen Ali made 19 and Stuart Broad scored 12, while Nos. 10 and 11 Steven Finn and James Anderson did not score.
At press time last night, South Africa had retaken the lead at 16-0.
Stiaan van Zyl was on 6 and opening partner Dean Elgar was on 10 at the lunch break.
Additional reporting by staff writer
AUSTRALIA, INDIA
Reuters
Back-to-back one-day defeats in Perth and Brisbane have forced India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni to rethink his strategy of batting first against Australia, who have taken a 2-0 lead in the five-match series by chasing down 300-plus targets.
Dhoni won the toss in both matches and after India posted scores of 309 and 308, watched as the hosts reeled them in with powerful displays at the crease.
There was also a suggestion of a lack of discipline about India’s bowlers, who leaked 23 wides in the two matches.
Ahead of today’s third one-dayer, Dhoni said chasing might be a better option for India.
“I feel even if we cut down the extras, we will have to score more runs,” Dhoni said. “There are two options: Either put pressure on the batsmen and score 330, or chase down the score; give them the batting first. We will have a look and decide what suits us the best.”
While Rohit Sharma burnished his reputation in limited-overs cricket with a second successive century in Brisbane, skipper Dhoni said he was seeking even more from his batsmen.
“As a team we have to win, irrespective of which department is not doing well, and for that we have to score 20-30 more runs,” he said.
“That will put a lot of pressure on the batsmen,” he added.
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