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• Last updated on Sun, 17 Jun, 2018, 10:53 AM
Jason Roy cracked a fine hundred in England’s 38-run win in Cardiff. © Getty
Jason Roy showed his ability to adapt to different situations with a superbly paced 108-ball 120 in the second ODI versus Australia in Cardiff on Saturday (June 16), as England posted a comfortable 38-run win. The Surrey batsman, who has five ODI hundreds to his name, said that he would look back at his game-changing knock as “probably his favourite innings” for England.
Roy showed the required temperament and batting nous to get through the rain breaks without losing focus and also ensured that no momentum was lost. The point can be capsulised by the fact that after the first break, Roy was on 66 off 63 balls. Even after resumption of play, he kept the scorecard ticking over and remained unbeaten on 91 off 89 balls when rain again interrupted play. However, once rain relented, he upped the ante before eventually getting out for 120.
“I had a long discussion with Thorpey (Graham Thorpe, England’s batting coach) after I got out and just said it was probably my favourite innings as far as how my tempo was throughout the innings,” said Roy, the Player of the Match. “Just the way I knuckled down early, it was quite difficult and I went through some difficult patches but then came out the other side. Obviously I wanted to start expanding my game but unfortunately I got out. But I was still happy nonetheless,” he added.
In the last 18 months, Roy has been inconsistent in the 50-over format. After averaging over 70 in the ODI series in India last year, he went through a bad patch, averaging 27.33 in West Indies, 10 versus Ireland, 4.33 against South Africa and 6 in the three games he played in the Champions Trophy. However, the flamboyant batsman cracked fine knocks of 96 and 84 respectively in the ODI rubber versus West Indies at home. He followed it up by essaying an impressive hand of 180 at the MCG versus Australia. Unfortunately for Roy, he could amass just 218 runs in his next 10 innings.
Roy noted that he worked hard on his game and one of his goals was to start the current home season well. “It was a big aim for me to come after a long winter and to start well on home soil. Obviously we had the hiccup against Scotland and then the first game I was a bit panicky, a bit wary, of where my game’s at, but I put in a lot of hard work over the past few days and got a few rewards today.”
The hosts will now look to seal the series when they take on Australia in the third ODI to be played in Nottingham on Tuesday (June 19).
