Morgan in good nick
7-4 Dwelt, close up, ridden and headway to lead inside final furlong, ran on, won at Lingfield 1m flls cond stks (3) pol in Dec beating Summer Icon by 2 1/4l, 6 ran. 11-4fav Mid-division, lost place over 2f out, headway on outer approaching final furlong, ridden to lead inside final furlong, ran on, won at Wolverhampton 1m 1f hcp (4) in Dec beating Toga Tiger by 1/2l, 12 ran. 4-1 Slowly away, in rear, ridden over 1f out, headway to chase winner inside final furlong until near finish, 3rd of 7, 1l behind Daisy Bere at Wolverhampton 1m 1f hcp (2) in Dec. 6-1 Tracked leader, ridden to lead inside final furlong, ridden out, won at Lingfield 1m mdn stks (5) pol in Dec beating Galinthias by 3/4l, 10 ran. 12-1 Led, 4 lengths clear 6f out, ridden and headed approaching final furlong, no extra, 5th of 7, 4l behind Daisy Bere at Wolverhampton 1m 1f hcp (2) in Dec. 33-1 Prominent, lost place 3f out, soon ridden and behind, last of 19, 25l behind Steel Train at Doncaster 7f app hcp 0-90 (3) gf in Nov. 7-2 Made all, ridden over 1f out, stayed on, won at Chelmsford City 1m 3yo clm stks (6) pol in Dec beating Ravenhoe by 1l, 5 ran. EOIN Morgan could hardly have signed off his five-match spell with the Sydney Thunder in sweeter style.
As Morgan leaves for India to captain England in three ODIs and three T20s, he signed off by hitting a straight six off Ben Hilfenhaus as he provided the Thunder with their first win of the defence of their maiden title.
Given Morgan missed England’s tour to Bangladesh due to security concerns, the BBL was his first cricket since the English summer and he feels it has set him up well for the tour of India – especially since the pitch at the Spotless Stadium for his final game was slow and low, favouring spin.
“I feel in pretty good touch,” Morgan said.
“We played on a slow wicket which prepares you well for subcontinental conditions.
“It hasn’t been too flat, so my preparation has been really good out here.”
Morgan, having been 15 off 28, ended unbeaten on 71 off 50, his second half-century of a tournament in which he scored 159 runs at 39.75 to sign off as his team’s top-scorer.
“Predominantly I was looking at the seamers,” he said.
“It’s an extraordinary feeling when you get one out of the middle like that. When you hit it, you’re the only person who knows how well you’ve hit it – a very special feeling.”
Australia batted themselves into a commanding position in the third Test against Pakistan before finally coming up against some late resistance on the second day at the SCG.
Matt Renshaw missed out on a double ton as he went for 184, but Yorkshire’s new signing Peter Handscomb (110) became the third centurion of the innings as he guided the hosts to a mammoth 538-8 declared.
Josh Hazlewood then made early inroads with two wickets in an over to reduce Pakistan to six for two, before Azhar Ali and Younus Khan provided an impressive response, posting an unbeaten partnership of 120.