"If I am honest, I wanted to hit him for six first ball" - Alex Lees on facing Ravindra Jadeja
England opener Alex Lees revealed that he looked to attack Ravindra Jadeja on Day 4 of the first Test against India at Edgbaston on Monday, July 4. Lees, who scored a 46-ball 56 to spearhead England's run-chase of 378, said he only tried to hit the balls where there were no fielders.
Lees greeted Jadeja with a boundary by stepping down the track and a reverse sweep for another on the final ball of the over. The southpaw, who perished for a single-figure score in the first innings, reached his fifty off 44 deliveries. He stitched a 107-run opening stand with Zak Crawley.
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Speaking to Sky Sports after the day's play, he revealed that the word from their camp for left-handed batters was to attack Jadeja. Hence, the southpaw intended to hit the left-arm spinner for a maximum.
He said:
"For the left-handers in this team, I think is for us to have a go at the left-arm spinner. If I am honest, I wanted to hit him for six first ball but yorked myself! There is no great science. I just tried to hit the ball where the fielders weren’t."
The 29-year old departed in an unfortunate manner as he was involved in a terrible mix-up with Joe Root. His wicket followed that of Crawley and Ollie Pope as England began losing the plot after a strong start.
"I just wanted to try and give it a good whack, to be honest" - Alex Lees
The Yorkshire batter credited Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum for giving him the freedom to play aggressively; however, his aim is to score big hundreds.
He said:
"I just wanted to try and give it a good whack, to be honest. The backing from Ben [Stokes] and Baz [McCullum] has accelerated that aggressive intent and the manner in which I am playing. The numbers are still not where I would like them to be. I want to score big hundreds - that is my role as an opening batter."
A mix up in the middle and Alex Lees is Run Out.
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England are on the cusp of pulling off a record chase at the venue as they finished 259-3 at stumps and needing 119 more for a win on Day 5.
Jonny Bairstow, who scored a blistering hundred in the first innings, is in the scheme of things again, adding an unbeaten 150 with Root. The pair are unbeaten on 72 and 76, respectively. An England victory would deny India their first series win on English soil since 2007.