England’s World Cup-winning skipper Eoin Morgan feels that one loss against New Zealand should not derail the defending champions’ campaign in the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023 in India. The Black Caps chased down a target of 283 in the 36.2 overs in the World Cup opener to hand England their first defeat in the tournament.
Jos Buttler-led side suffered a humiliating defeat of nine wickets in the ODI World Cup opener, as England were no match to the opponents in the opening game of the marquee event. Both England batters and bowlers failed to step up for their team in the opening game, especially the English bowlers, who were unable to withstand the ruthless attack of Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra in the chase.
In his column for ICC, Eoin Morgan hailed the New Zealand team for their brilliant performance in the World Cup opener and admitted that the England side scored a under par total in the game and feels that the batters have gifted their wickets in the game to New Zealand bowlers.
“New Zealand had an incredible day and for England, it was a crushing defeat. Even if they had scored 30 more runs to get up to a par score, I don’t think they bowled well enough to defend it, which makes it harder to take. Enough England batters got starts but it never felt like they struck many blows throughout the innings. In many ways, New Zealand didn’t get them out, they got themselves out,” Eoin Morgan said.
The Black Caps displayed exceptional bowling skills in the match, as they limited the England team to 282 runs in their 50 overs. Joe Root was the only standout batter for the defending champions, as other batters struggled to get going in the middle overs of the game
One Defeat Will Not Derail Their Campaign – Eoin Morgan
Eoin Morgan heaped praise on Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra for putting the England team under pressure right from the start of the innings and said that they shouldn’t look too much on the loss because it is just the beginning of a long tournament.
“But credit has to go to Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra played. Conway put England under pressure from the very first ball and for Ravindra to play like that on his World Cup debut was exceptional. He was pure class.”
“One thing is for sure – one defeat will not derail their campaign. Eight of this squad were there in 2019, when we lost three group stage matches on the way to lifting the trophy, and they will definitely lean on that experience. There is no side that goes from start to finish at a World Cup without experiencing some sort of adversity, whether it’s losing games or having hiccups within games themselves. This will be no different,” Eoin Morgan added.
Rachin Ravindra put on a brilliant display of his batting skills in the game against England in the opening game as he scored an unbeaten 123 runs off just 96 balls on his World Cup debut and Conway was equally impressive in the chase scoring a hundred on World Cup debut and the Kiwis will look to continue their fine form going forward in the marquee event.
