England’s white-ball captain Harry Brook praised Joe Root after England sealed a 53-run victory over Sri Lanka in the third and final ODI in Colombo on January 27. The win helped England clinch the three-match series 2-1.
Speaking after the match, Brook highlighted Root’s importance in the squad and his influence on the team’s daily preparations. “Root is exceptional; to have him in the side helps every day.” Root also bagged the Player of the Series award for scoring 247 runs, including two fifties and one century.
Root remained unbeaten on 111 off 108 balls, which included nine boundaries and one maximum. Root and Brook shared an unbeaten 191-run partnership that helped England post a massive total of 357 runs.
Brook also spoke about his own approach and the team’s effort to reach such a big score. He said, “Working on a few things in the nets, and it paid off. Glad me, Rooty and Beth could get us to that total. Awesome effort from everyone.”
Brook created history with a blistering knock of 136 off just 66 balls. His innings included 11 boundaries and nine maximums at a strike rate of 206.06, which also earned him the Player of the Match award. He surpassed Quinton de Kock’s 128 to register the highest score by a non-Asian batter in Sri Lanka.
Talking about the pitch and the bowling effort, Brook said, “Not that important, a lot better pitch than we were expecting. Got a good score and managed to defend it. Very happy with how the spinners bowled, they were working in tandem. The batters tried to put the pressure back on in tough conditions. [Pitch] It was a decent wicket! Ended up being better than we thought.”
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