Image Courtesy BCCI.tv
England skipper Eoin Morgan was all smiles after beating India by three runs in a one-off Twenty20 international match in Birmingham and moreover the southpaw was delighted by making a handsome contribution in his side’s victory.
Morgan led from the front and scored a scorching fifty to power England to a massive total. When Morgan arrived at the crease England were 75 for three in 9.5 overs, but the Dublin born scored a 31-ball 71, featuring seven sixes and three fours, to put the hosts back on track.
The knock came as a relief for the stand-in skipper, as after a disappointing five-match ODI series he finally found himself amongst runs and said he is delighted with England’s thrilling T20 win.
“There are smiles in the changing-room after a very tough summer,” Morgan said. “We have worked really hard and to finish it on such a high against such a very strong T20 team – is a great achievement.”
“It is hugely important,” he added. “In the one-day series our senior players including myself didn’t stand up, which made things really difficult. To lead from the front myself was the way it should be done.”
Meanwhile, Morgan defended Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s decision of not rotating the strike in Chris Woakes’ final over. The England captain said Dhoni is a big-hitter and capable of hitting anything half executed by bowlers in the death overs.
Dhoni shouldered responsibility of driving Team India home, as the touring party required 17 to win in the final over. The Indian captain hit Woakes’ first ball for a six and scored a four in the fourth but the Ranchi-born only managed one in last two balls.
“He’s a guy capable of anything,” Morgan insisted. “That first ball (of the last over) Woakesy (Woakes) bowled, he probably missed his length but not by much at all – he inside edged it for six. If Woakesy half executes the rest of the deliveries he faces in that over they could have gone for six as well.”
