Pain-free Murray is back for real
Hero Morgan has still got the winning drive
THE ‘real’ Andy Murray will play his first pain-free Grand Slam singles for more than three years at the US Open tomorrow.
Murray has played in only three Major singles matches since limping out of Wimbledon in 2017, but he said: “That wasn’t really me on the court.”
The Scot, 33, has had two hip surgeries and months of rehab to return
CAPTAIN Eoin Morgan’s superb knock helped England chase down 196 to beat Pakistan by five wickets in the second T20 match at Old Trafford.
Last summer’s World Cup hero has had his fair share of back problems and could be forgiven for losing drive as he approaches his 34th birthday on September 10.
Yet he appears to be getting better with age, as his 66 off 33 balls showed.
After the washout on Friday night, victory ensured they cannot lose the series with one game to play tomorrow.
Pakistan would have felt comfortable at the turnaround having posted what looked a defendable total, underpinned by half-centuries from Babar Azam and Mohammad Hafeez.
Yet from the moment Morgan got a life on the second ball he faced, he had the men in green chasing shadows.
Jonny Bairstow and Tom Banton got England off to a good start in chasing down Pakistan’s 195-4, rattling to 65-0 after six overs with the field up in the powerplay.
It could have been a lot different had umpire Martin Saggers decided to send Morgan on his way in the seventh over.
The skipper would have been a third wicket in four balls
■ (inset) to Flushing Meadows. “It’s been hard for sure,” he said. “But since I managed to get back on the court and start competing again, I try not to think about my hip and the fact that it’s metal because I’m not feeling it much when I’m playing.
“Hopefully I’m going to compete at a Slam where I’m not worried about for leg spinner Shadab Khan after he found Bairstow’s top edge and pinned Banton plum in front in consecutive balls.
Morgan survived a tight leg-before shout in the same over but settled to his task by heaving Shadab for a towering six over deep square-leg
Morgan is not a man you want to give a second chance to in this format.
And he made best use of his luck, punishing Pakistan with some wristy punches, four times clearing the ropes as he reached his half-century in 29 balls.
It was his in his last how I’m going to be, how my hip’s going to feel, things like that.
“The last time, that would have been was in the 2017 French Open. It’s a long time ago. I know I’ve played a couple of Slams since then, but that wasn’t really me on court.
“Whereas now, I’m not as quick probably as I was before, but I’m able to go out there and compete fifth half-century 11 innings. He was ably supported by Dawid Malan, who continues to take his chance as a very dependable stand-in in white ball cricket.
The pair shared a 112-run partnership for the third wicket.
Their stand lifted England from 66-2 to 178-3, leaving just 18 runs from 18 balls to win.
Moeen Ali managed to tap Shadab Khan to midwicket to continue a run of four single figure scores in white ball cricket this summer and Sam Billings cut straight to backward point with a single required. and focus on the tennis, hopefully be able to last a five-set match without my performance seriously deteriorating as it goes on.
“It’s been tough to get to this point, a lot of hard work, lots of ups and downs. But I made it back.
“It would be nice to go out there and get a win on Tuesday.”
British No.2 Kyle Edmund will strive to avoid a hat-trick of first-round defeats at the US Open when he faces Alexander Bublik today.
Edmund, who reached the semis at the 2018 Australian Open, has not won a match in New York since 2017.
Fellow Brit Cam Norrie faces a tough opening match against No.9 seed Diego Schwartzman of Argentina.