Morgan laments team’s batting collapse
England captain Eoin Morgan said his side was 20-30 runs short in the lost third T20 International against India and blamed the deathovers’ batting collapse for the score, which wasn’t enough despite being steep.
“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 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. “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,” he said.
“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 on Thursday.