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200 would have been a competitive score: Crawley

February 25, 2021 11:07 IST

England opener Zak Crawley scored 53 on his return to Test cricket after missing the first two Tests with a wrist injury

IMAGE: England opener Zak Crawley scored 53 on his return to Test cricket after missing the first two Tests with a wrist injury. Photograph: England Cricket/Twitter

After England collapsed for a meagre 112 on Day 1 of the day-night Test at Motera, England opener Zak Crawley said England can fight back given their bowling attack.

England captain Joe Root chose to bat in the day-night Test but the visitors succumbed to India's spin might to collapse inside two sessions.

Left-arm spinner Axar Patel returned with figures of 6 for 38, for his second five-for in his second Test.

 

England's batting centred around the tall and elegant right-handed opener Crawley, who was returning after missing the first two Tests with a wrist injury.

"It was easy to bat against the seamers, never easy to bat against spinners in these conditions. We should have got a few runs. 200 would have been a nice and competitive score," the 23-year-old, who made 53 off 84 balls, said.

Asked whether England erred in bringing in only one front-line spin bowler in Leach, he said: "We have very strong seamers and back them on any surface. It is above my pay grade, for sure, but I think that's the way we were looking at it.

"If we had got a few more runs it might have helped our bowlers out a lot more. At the moment we are probably behind the game but there is plenty of time to fight back with our bowling line-up."

Crawley was also disappointed that he could not convert his fifty into a big score.

"It is always nice to score a fifty in a Test match but you want to kick on and score more. For my first Test back, it was nice to get some runs.

"I think it is easier to bat during the day (in day-night Tests) but it is different over here to what it is in England," he said.

 

 

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