Joe Root claims England are in a very confident mood ahead of the first Ashes Test next week after they defeated a Cricket Australia Invitational XI by seven wickets in their final warm-up game.
The 22-year-old batsman, who contributed 75 runs in England’s first innings at the Sydney Cricket Ground, was not required in the second after Boyd Rankin (3-46) and Steven Finn (3-88) helped dismiss the hosts for 261 in the morning session and also boosted their chances of being involved for the first Test which starts at The Gabba in Brisbane on Thursday.
Set 148 to win, Michael Carberry hit a half-century and Jonathan Trott chipped in with 38 not out in an unbroken 50-run stand with Ian Bell as England finished on 151-3.
Afterwards Root, who insisted a slight finger injury will not keep him out of the first Test, told Sky Sports:
“Obviously it’s great to get in a good performance this week. Good to see a lot of the lads put in strong performances and taking a lot of confidence forward to next week.
“Everyone has really contributed and that’s really pleasing. There will be a lot of positives to take forward to next week and hopefully we can take the momentum from this win into that.
“It’s very exciting now, obviously getting the warm-up games out of the way. We’ve prepared very well. We’ve got a very important few days ahead of us. I think the mood is very good in the camp and we’re really looking forward to the whole series really.”
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