"Had to channel my inner Hussain...": Root hilarious remark following match-winning knock for England against Sri Lanka

MANCHESTER: Following a five-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the first Test, England batter Joe Root joked that he had to channel his "inner Nasser Hussain" to secure a win for his side and his teammates are now calling him "Geoff Boycott," referring to the slow, steely nature of his knock.

Batting legend Root continues to pile up runs consistently as he stars in yet another win for England. In a tense run-chase of 205 runs, Root scored a slow but well-compiled 62 runs that guided his team to a win despite losing wickets early.

Speaking to former skipper Hussain on Sky Sports, Root joked that he had to "channel his inner Hussain", but is still ahead of his compatriot in terms of career strike rate. "I had to channel my inner Hussain, I reckon," Root joked to the former England captain, as quoted by Sky Sports.

"I am still ahead of your career strike rate, but it was a tricky one today. It was a long, slow, hard grind but we got there in the end," continued Root. Root said that the wicket lost its pace as the match progressed and he just could not muscle the ball like he wanted to.

"So I just had to accumulate in a slightly different way. The lads are all calling me Geoff [Boycott] upstairs," he said. The veteran batter said that sometimes, one has to win in an "ugly" manner.

"Hopefully it is a one-off thing. Sometimes you have to win ugly, and we have still won with a day to go, so we are still sticking by the principles we want to live by and we are evolving as a team. I feel like, playing Sri Lanka, these are as close to Sri Lankan conditions as you are going to get in England, so for us to manage that well and close it out is a really good step forward for us," concluded Root.

In the match, SL won the toss and opted to bat first. Struggling at 113/7, it was knocks from skipper Dhananjaya de Silva (74 in 84 balls, with eight fours) and Milan Rathnayake (72 in 135 balls, with six fours and two sixes) that pushed SL to 236/10.

Chris Woakes (3/32) and Shoaib Bashir (3/55) were the top bowlers for England. Despite a poor start and a tricky score of 67/3, fine performances from middle-order batters Joe Root (42 in 57 balls with four boundaries), Harry Brook (56 in 73 balls with four boundaries), and centurion Jamie Smith (111 in 148 balls, with eight fours and a six) helped England attain a lead of 122 runs as they were bundled out for 358 runs.

Ashitha Fernando (4/103) and Prabhat Jayasuriya (3/85) delivered fine spells for Sri Lanka. In their second innings, SL once again found themselves in a troublesome position, with the score reading 95/4. However, veterans Angelo Matthews (65 in 145 balls, with two fours and a six), and Dinesh Chandimal (79 in 119 balls, with seven fours) formed a 78-run partnership to push SL towards a lead.

Later, keeping his fine form, Kamindu Mendis slammed his second Test ton in five innings, scoring 113 in 183 balls, with 15 fours and a six. SL put up a total of 326/10, giving them a respectable lead of 204 runs.

Woakes and Matthew Potts (3/47) took three wickets each to lead England's bowling charts. In reply, England was in a tight position at 70/3. However, Root's calm and composed half-century (62* in 128 balls with two fours) and solid contributions from Brook (32 in 68 balls, with three fours) and Smith (39* in 48 balls, with four boundaries and a six) took England to a five-wicket win. England take a 1-0 lead in a two-match series. Smith took home the 'Player of the Match' award for his century.