Mark Wood said England bowlers will only try to take wickets rather than worry about the amount of runs on the board as they look for a win in the third T20I against India in Rajkot on Tuesday.
India are trailing the five-match series by 0-2 after losing the first two games in Kolkata and Chennai. They came close to defending 166 in the second game, but a measured knock of 72 not out off 55 balls by lefthander Tilak Varma helped India win the game by two wickets.
After capitulating as a batting and bowling unit in the first T20I which they lost by seven wickets, the visitors’ managed to put India under pressure until the last over with wickets at regular intervals. Wood conceded 28 runs from his three overs in the match, but got the crucial wicket of opener Abhishek Sharma with his third ball.
“We’ll just be trying to take wickets. I don’t think (Brendon) McCullum wants us to worry about runs too much, he’s all about how we can impact the game that way,” Wood told reporters ahead of the third T20I.
Despite being reduced to 126/7, Indian batters kept attacking England’s pacers with Varma and Arshdeep Singh scoring two sixes and a boundary off Jofra Archer’s 15th over that proved to be a turning point in the match.
“We bowled well in the last game as a group. With the target they were chasing (167), we were always looking for that attacking option of taking wickets. Some might have gone for a few runs at times, but I also felt what was going to win us the game was trying to bowl them out,” Wood said.
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England, known for its group of big hitters struggled against Indian spinners, as 11 of their 19 wickets in this series fell to spin. Wood backed the likes of Jacob Bethell and Liam Livingstone to come good at Rajkot.
“And we’ve got a lot of options: Livingstone, Bethell, if he comes back. As a pace bowling group, the other night maybe there was one or two overs we might have changed, but in general we kept coming at the India batters,” the pacer said.
Wood, who had missed the majority of 2024 season due to an elbow injury, said he is aiming to find his groove back and do well in the Champions Trophy 2025 in Pakistan next month.
“My pace has been up there and I feel it’s coming out of my hand well, but the accuracy at times hasn’t been quite where I wanted it. But when I haven’t played since August, it’s pretty much expected. Hopefully the more I play, the better I get leading into the 50-over stuff and the Champions Trophy. I’ll keep trying my best and try to improve in training. Hopefully, that narrows my focus even more,” the 2019 ODI World Cup winner said.
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