Chester-Le-Street, Sept 4 : England skipper Alastair Cook says his team could have gone on to win the first ODI against India if rain had not played spoilsport even though the host side was on the back-foot at the start of its chase.
England were 27 for two while chasing 275 but Cook said he did not believe his side was staring defeat before persistent rain forced an abandonment.
“You never know what's going to happen. It was a good wicket, a big oval and the outfield was quick. The target was gettable,” said Cook.
Cook gave credit to Indian batters, especially the openers who gave the visitors a very good start in powerplays.
“Sometimes you need to give credit to the way they played. Parthiv Patel specially batted very well. However, we would review the game like we always do and look at areas we can improve,” Cook said at the post—match press conference.
The left—hander believed India could have got a bigger total but for his bowlers' fine job in the second half of the visitors' innings.
“We bowled well in the second half, especially in the batting powerplay. Jade (Dernbach) and Bressi (Tim Bresnan) bowled very well. At one stage we were looking at a score of over 300. Samit also was very good; we needed those 10 overs out of him. He has acquitted himself very well,” Cook said
Praveen Kumar removed both the England openers in his opening spell and looked threatening but Cook tended to underplay his potency.
“We also have had quite a bit of success against him. We have scored lot of runs against him. But he's a quality bowler, swings the ball and holds his length. He is a quality performer. We know that's why they are world champions. We won Test cricket because we played better. It will be a real battle in this series,” said Cook.
Cook confirmed off—spinner Graeme Swann, who missed the first ODI because of a stomach virus, should be back for the second game in Southampton on September 6.
“He should be alright. It's just a virus; he should be back on Tuesday.” PTI
