'Can't see why we can't chase these runs'
As England gears up to chase down a daunting target of 374 against India in the final Test at The Oval, young seamer Josh Tongue believes there's no reason why the hosts can't pull off another famous run chase, just like they did at Headingley.
"Pretty chilled, not much overthinking about it. I got asked the same question at Headingley, so I don't see why not, we can't chase down these runs," Tongue said confidently at the post-day press conference.
England had famously chased down 371 in the first Test at Headingley with five wickets to spare and that memory clearly fuels the belief in the English camp once again.
"Yeah, I think how we play as a batting unit is obviously very positive and very exciting and yeah, the batting line up that we've got, I can't see why we can't give it a good go," added the 27-year-old.
In just his third appearance of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, Tongue has made a significant impact, as he is the leading wicket-taker of the series along with Mohammed Siraj.
Both seamers now have 19 wickets to their name, but while Siraj has featured in all five Tests, Tongue has reached the mark in just three.
The young English quick was once again impressive at The Oval, finishing with figures of 5/125 in India's second innings, his second five-wicket haul in Test cricket. He finished the game with eight wickets to his name.
Despite the achievement, Tongue remained grounded as he reflected on his performance across the series.
"I think a lot of up and downs. I feel like sometimes I didn't bowl as best as I could, especially the first day here," he admitted at the post-day press conference.
"Yeah, obviously very tough 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," he added.
At stumps on Day 3, England reached 50/1, still needing 324 more runs with two full days of play remaining and a strong batting line-up to follow. With the Bazball philosophy embedded deep in their approach, the hosts aren't ruling out another dramatic chase.
