Root: We are still massively in this series

England captain Joe Root expressed his disappointment after his team went two-nil down in the five-match Ashes series in Adelaide on Wednesday but insists they still have the belief they can turn it around.

The tourists, who began day five at the Adelaide Oval on 176/4 chasing a record target of 354, were 233 all out to lose by a big margin on 120 runs.

Root, who gave England fans hope with 67 in the second innings, was left frustrated after his team conceded a 215-run lead on the first innings.

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The England captain said after the game: “I definitely thought we could have batted better – that margin is far too great – and we could have bowled fuller on the first morning when it was definitely doing plenty.

“Those two areas are where the game went in Australia’s favour.”

Root said they still have the belief that they can turn the series around, starting with the third Test in Perth from 14 December.

The visiting skipper said his side will heart from the way they bounced back from their first innings deficit to be in with a chance on the final day.

Root continued: “It’s obviously very disappointing [to lose].

“I thought the way we responded with ball and bat in the second innings was outstanding, especially the way we played last night (Tuesday) in those conditions.

“That showed a lot of character and that’s what you want to see in series like this. We just need to find a way of doing it for longer periods of time and doing it over five days as if we perform to our ability we will win games.

“The way we went about things in the second innings proved we are still massively in this series – we have shown we can outperform Australia but we haven’t done it for five days.

“That’s going to be our challenge. The belief is still there – I don’t think we are in a situation we were the last time we were here.”

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