CWC: Root calls on England's senior bowlers to put pressure on opposition to win post Lanka thumping

England batsman Joe Root has called on the squad's bowlers to put pressure on other teams' batsmen after they failed to defend a respectable total of 309 against Sri Lanka in Wellington.

After a third thumping at the tournament in which the bowling department struggled to find pace, it was Root rather than one of the bowlers or the coach who explained away the horror display against Sri Lanka.

England's youngest World Cup centurion tried to explain why their bowlers were unable to defend the 309 runs their batsmen had scored against Sri Lanka, the Mirror reported.

James Anderson and Stuart Broad's return from injury was hailed as the final piece in England's World Cup jigsaw before Christmas, but the pair have endured a nightmare tournament so far taking two wickets apiece at an average of 91 and 92 respectively.

Root said that England bowlers couldn't quite create the pressure with the ball that Sri Lankans did, adding that they weren't disciplined enough and leaked too many boundaries. He insisted that their bowling unit is quite senior, adding that there's a lot of guys who have played a lot of cricket now and they've had a lot of success so one doesn't want to tell them how to do their job.

Root said that England, unfortunately, didn't create that pressure with the ball and they didn't do anything to make it difficult for Sri Lanka from 10 overs onwards. He insisted that if one makes it hard for guys to get off strike and make it hard in the middle overs then that's something they talk about, adding that it's something they try to do.

Root said that against Sri Lanka it was more about not being able to do that skill wise, adding that he doesn't believe it was a plan to bowl width and leak boundaries.