Josh Tongue has said that England are pretty chilled about chasing down the target of 374 in the Oval Test and winning the series 3-1. Since adopting the Bazball mantra, England have been bullish about their chances of chasing down big targets, even when the stats are not in their favour.
This was seen in the first Test against India at Headingley during the ongoing series, when they chased down 371 runs. Speaking at the press conference at the end of Day 3, Tongue said that it did feel like a replay of the first Test and backed England’s batting order to pull off the chase, despite being one man short as Chris Woakes is out injured.
“It is a replay from Headingley,” said Josh Tongue. “It will be a great day of cricket and a great day for us if we get the runs. How we play as a batting unit is very positive and very exciting. The batting we’ve got, I can’t see why we can’t give it a good go. We’re pretty chilled. Not much overthinking about it. I don’t see why we can’t chase down these runs.”
England find themselves 50 for one, needing 324 more runs to win with nine wickets remaining. It was a fine start for them, but India gained momentum heading into Day 4 as they got the wicket of Zak Crawley with the final ball of play.
A series of ups and downs
Tongue ended the series as England’s leading wicket-taker with 19 wickets to his name from just three matches. The pacer said it has been a series of ups and downs for him and at times felt he wasn’t at his best. Tongue recalled the first over he bowled in the ongoing Test and how he just forgot about those six balls.
The pacer said he was happy to be getting the wickets for his side and get them into winning positions.
“I think there are a lot of ups and downs. I feel like sometimes I didn’t bowl as best as I could, especially the first day here. Let’s just say I forgot about that first over. But yeah, obviously very chuffed to get the wickets and the main thing is getting the wickets for the team and putting us in good positions to win games of cricket,” said Tongue.
– Ends
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