Bristol, Jul 9: England captain Eoin Morgan said his side was 20-30 runs short in the lost third T20 International against India and blamed the death-overs’ batting collapse for the score, which wasn’t enough despite being steep.
Rohit Sharma scored his third T20I hundred as India chased down 199 with seven wickets in hand to pocket the three-match series 2-1.
“We were probably 20-30 runs short. 225 or 235 would have been more of a difficult chase (on that ground). India never really got away from us, but we struggled to take wickets (during the chase),” said Eoin Morgan.
“They kept up with the rate, and then it was a position in the 16th or 17th over they could take the game away from us which is disappointing. (But) Jason (Roy) and Jos (Buttler) were brilliant up front and almost gave us a licence to allow ourselves to think about 220,” he added.
England lost four wickets for 46 runs in the middle overs that restricted their momentum, and in the death overs they lost another five wickets in the space of 14 balls.
For India, while Rohit Sharma did the job with the bat, all-rounder Hardik Pandya picked up four wickets for 38 runs and was instrumental in pulling things back for India.
“Pandya kept it simple (on a tough ground). He hit good lengths and we didn’t hit it. The execution of our shots didn’t really match up. On a good wicket, and a small ground, we should be better than that. India were probably on top of their game today, and we weren’t.
“We were just short. Those 20 or 30 runs we missed out on in the back-end of our innings cost us,” said the skipper.
“This series has been pretty competitive, probably barring the first game, which they (India) dominated. It doesn’t necessarily expose us in one area, but it allows us to grow as a team. I don’t think we have to play a completely perfect game every time. We proved that at Cardiff.”
England were not able to get breakthroughs throughout the Indian innings, with a crucial 89-run third-wicket partnership between Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli setting the tone for the victory.
Eoin Morgan said there were key things to learn from the game which the hosts would take into the three-match ODI series strating July 12.
“I was just chopping and changing trying to find a wicket, trying to be as unpredictable as we could but it didn’t work. India stuck to banging in a hard length until they went to yorkers towards the end. That’s what we tried to replicate, because on this ground, taking wickets is a priority,” he said.
“But I am pretty confident, going forward, we won’t be hung over on this series loss. It doesn’t mean we are going to go and have a divine right to win a game of cricket. We have to remember all the hard work we put in to beat good teams, and India are one of those.
The ODI series begins in Nottingham.