ICC CWC'19: Joe Root feels England failed to adapt properly
27 June, 2019
After England lost both of their recent two matches in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, batsman Joe Root said that his side failed to adapt and even admitted that there were some things which they could have done better.
"If you look at some of the par scores throughout this tournament, they have been very different to when we have played in bilateral series. We have turned up to some venues in this tournament and things have been quite different to when we have played one-day series there in the past. We haven't necessarily adapted as well as we could have. It is frustrating and very disappointing that we have played in the manner we have in the last two games. There are a number of things we could have done slightly better," ESPN Crincinfo quoted Root as saying.
After being beaten by Sri Lanka by 20 runs, England faced a massive 64-run defeat from Australia on June 25. Australia bundled off all England batsmen on just 221 runs when they were chasing a target of 285 runs.
Despite accepting that England did not play as per their potential, Root said they are more than capable of qualifying in the semi-finals.
"I just don't think we have played as well as we can. We have made some basic errors that we want to put right in the next two games. But I strongly believe we are more than capable of qualifying for the semi-finals. We have played both these opposition in the recent past and had huge success. So we have got to look at that, the other stuff we have done well throughout the competition and put it all together," he said.
Root also said that the tournament starts to kick in when it reaches the semi-finals stage.
"It doesn't really matter how you get there - to the semi-finals - but when you do, that's when the tournament really starts to kick in," he said.
England will now face India on June 30.
Source: