Joe Root inspired a “sense of calmness” in England before scoring an unbeaten 62 to help defeat Sri Lanka in the first Test, captain Ollie Pope has said.
At 70-3 on the fourth day at Old Trafford, England’s prospects of reaching the required 205 to move ahead in the three-Test series looked uncertain, Kamindu Mendis posting 113 and Dinesh Chandimal 79 for the visitors.
Root and Harry Brook hit 49 for the fourth wicket, while Jamie Smith contributed 39 from 48 balls as part of a five-wicket win.
Sri Lanka vs England: Root ‘calmness’
“He’s a greedy Yorkshireman, isn’t he?” joked Pope, who is England’s stand-in skipper for the injured Ben Stokes, speaking to Sky Sports Cricket about Root.
“So everyone likes it when he’s walking out to the crease. There was a sense of calmness when he was in to bat. Everyone had a sense of confidence that he was going to take it home.”
Mendis and Chandimal had added 117 for Sri Lanka’s seventh wicket in the morning, but England took the final four wickets for 19 runs with the help of the second new ball.
Pope: England ‘cashed in’
Pope praised Gus Atkinson and Chris Woakes in England’s attack, saying his bowlers had “led from the front”.
“It was the kind of pitch that suited the new ball,” he observed. “We knew that once it got past 15-to-20 overs, we could really cash in.
“I enjoyed it in the field, reading the game and trying to find different ways of taking 20 wickets on a pitch that, once you got past 15 or 20 overs, was pretty tough to bowl on.
“We really enjoyed it. The first day was more taxing than I expected but that was always going to be the case.”
Jamie Smith ‘honoured’
Smith, who was named Player of the Match for his century in England’s first innings, described the action as “slightly attritional at times”.
“Rooty anchored the innings nicely and allowed people to go and play around him,” added the 24-year-old.
“It’s a really enjoyable team to be a part of. There’s a lot of learning to be taken and there are a lot of experiences to come. To be out there and representing your country is a great honour.”
The second Test at Lord’s starts at 11am BST on Thursday.
