England skipper Eoin Morgan has lavished praise on his bowlers after their starring role in the convincing 87-run win over New Zealand in Cardiff on Tuesday (June 6).
Chasing 310, the Black Caps were looking well on course to chase down the big total when Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor had forged a brilliant partnership.
The duo had already added 77 runs when Morgan brought Mark Wood into the attack for his second spell after the latter went wicketless in his first spell where he conceded 17 in five overs. The move, meanwhile, paid immediate dividends, as the pacer dismissed the well-set Williamson for 84 in his third over after re-introduction to bring an end to the brilliant 95-run partnership.
Jake Ball then all but quashed New Zealand’s hopes of winning the match when he accounted for Taylor just 10 runs after Williamson was dismissed. Liam Plunkett then did the rest, running through New Zealand’s lower-order to take four wickets, as the hosts bowled the Kiwis out for 223 to become the first team to qualify for the semifinal.
“I thought they did an outstanding job,” Morgan said in the post-match press conference on Tuesday (June 6). “They were truly the highlight of the day. I thought the bowlers today as a collective unit were brilliant.”
Morgan feels the England bowlers’ new-found confidence of turning the match around at any stage have come from the way they performed in the 2-1 series victory over South Africa prior to the Champions Trophy.
“I think given games that we’ve played against South Africa recently where we’ve turned games around – the game in Leeds where [Hashim] Amla and Faf [du Plessis] got going and we managed to take two wickets quite quickly and the Southampton game where we pulled it out of the bag out of nowhere – it breeds a bit of confidence,” he said.
The England skipper further criticised his batsmen for their failure to finish the inning strongly. At 188 for three in the 34th over, the home side was looking destined to post well above 300 but losing wickets at regular intervals nearly derailed their innings. However, Jos Buttler’s 48-ball 61 runs knock bailed them out, as they managed to post 310.
“I thought we looked like we were getting about 340 but fell away towards the end which is disappointing. But the fact that we’re still trying to win games with the bat, regardless of the situation that we’re in, is a testament to the team. We’re staying true to what we believe in and what we’ve achieved over the last couple of years,” Morgan said.
England might have made it to the last four but Morgan insisted his team would not take the final group game lightly against Ashes rivals Australia.
“We never take any position that we’ve ever been in for granted,” said Morgan. “I think if we’re truly going to be contenders for this tournament, we need to beat the best teams and Australia are one of the best teams. So to go into a game like that with no other attitude than winning is very important to us.”