Joe Root said the hosts had a good chance of winning

India needed 157 more runs and England nine wickets. Skipper Joe Root said the hosts had a good chance of winning the opening Test of the series at Trent Bridge.

India was 52 for one chasing a target of 209. But Root felt that England still had a chance as the pitch was offering assistance to fast bowlers.

With no play possible on the final day due to heavy rain, the match was called off as a draw.

At one stage it looked like we could have potentially had 40 overs. I think in that period, it felt like we’d have been able to create nine chances on the surface like that,” he said after the match.

“India was probably in the driver’s seat going in today. We know on a wicket like that, get a couple of wickets across that, the game can turn on its head,” Root said.

“The pressures of batting on the fifth-day wicket, things can very quickly (could) have fallen in our favor. We certainly believed that we would have been able to create normal chances. If we had been good enough in the field and taken those, could have been exciting, fortunately, the weather has won,” he said.

According to Root, his team “grew into the game very well” and after the first innings. His team was well below par, and 250 on that wicket was a strong first-innings score. And would have made life a lot “trickier for India”.

The second Test of the five-match series will be played from August 12 at the iconic Lord’s in London.

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