Saturday 16 August 2014 09:49, UK
Chris Woakes admitted England put themselves under pressure by putting India into bat in the fifth Test at the Kia Oval but was delighted to see the decision vindicated.
Captain Alastair Cook opted to bowl first after winning the toss on the opening day and it quickly became apparent he had made the right choice as India were bowled out for just 148.
Woakes took Test best figures of 3-30 and Chris Jordan chipped in with 3-32, the best effort of his Test career, before England reached 62-0 in reply at the close of play.
"Having won the toss and choosing to bowl first, we were under a bit of pressure to bowl them out,” Woakes told Sky Sports.
“So to do it for under 150 is fantastic and then the way the boys batted to get us through to the close was brilliant."
It could have been even worse for India, who were down to 90-9 at one point, but captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's defiant knock of 82 meant a total capitulation was avoided.
Woakes added: "When he is in that sort of mood and batting at the tail he's pretty good at it. He was hard to bowl out, but I thought we did pretty well to restrict them.
"He could have got away from us so to get him out in the end was nice. It would have been nice to get them all out a little bit cheaper but we'd have taken that at the start of the day."
Reflecting on his own performance, Woakes felt he had not made a significant improvement but was finally able to get his just rewards.
"I'm pretty pleased, I feel like I've bowled pretty well over the last few Test matches but haven't had the rewards I would have liked," he said.
"The pitch was helpful to us today and I felt like I got the ball in decent areas and got the rewards for it."
After making his England debut roughly a year ago, Woakes also says he feels more confident on the international stage now.
"I think in general I'm probably a lot more accurate than I was a year ago. I just know my action and my body a little bit better from playing a lot more cricket and I feel I'm just in a good rhythm," Woakes said.
