Marvellous Morgan continues fine form
PERHAPS the biggest plus for England heading into the Champions Trophy is the fact Eoin Morgan, their captain, is seemingly in the form of his life.
This crushing victory, coming as it did against the world’s No 1ranked one-day team, underlined just why England are regarded as favourites for the tournament they will host.
There are two more matches against South Africa over the Bank Holiday weekend before Morgan’s men begin their campaign against Bangladesh at The Oval on Thursday.
Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes, the trio who missed the recent series against Ireland to continue playing in the IPL, were meant to be the star attractions at Headingley.
Yet it was Morgan, ably assisted by Moeen Ali, who stole the show with the kind of controlled aggression that made him one of England’s original X-factor batsmen in white-ball cricket.
It’s a status Morgan held long before his team decided to go on the path of unrelenting aggression following the shambles that was the 2015 World Cup.
The renaissance since that nadir in Australia and New Zealand has been built on trusting in youth and offering players reared on T20 the freedom to play their own way. But Morgan has initiated the change in mindset that has underpinned the resurgence.
It is a team moulded in their captain’s image and so it is fitting that as England approach their first 50-over tournament since the last World Cup, Morgan is back to his very best form.
This Headingley hundred proved pivotal to England’s victory. Moeen’s blistering 77 in 51 balls and two wickets may have won him the man of the match award.
However, it was Morgan’s 107 from 93 that held this innings together and laid the platform for a late assault that helped the hosts set South Africa 340 to win.
It was the 30-year-old’s third hundred in eight ODI innings and 11th of his career. Indeed, in the past 12 months, Morgan has scored 755 runs at an average of 50.33.
A successful spell in the Big Bash with Sydney Thunder at the start of the year allowed him to dust off the cobwebs after sitting out the tour of Bangladesh on security grounds.
The criticism for that decision ramped up the pressure on his place. Indeed, there was a school of thought that Morgan’s powers were on the wane and he should be replaced with a younger model.
The fact Buttler, his deputy, took to captaincy so well in Bangladesh didn’t help Morgan’s cause. Yet he hasn’t looked back since his time in the Big Bash at the turn of the year.
Morgan said: “I have felt good for a while. To continue that here is a good feeling. I’ve never gone through a stage this long where I’ve been able to keep it up. I’m not sure what that is down to, it might be experience, but I feel in good form.”
At 198-5 in the 35th over in Leeds, England still had much work to do. But a boundary-laden partnership of 117 between Morgan and Moeen – including a combined 10 sixes – fired a trademark late England blitz that saw them plunder 102 runs in the final 10 overs.
Moeen had been dropped for the two matches against Ireland, bringing into focus the question of whether he actually belonged in England’s best XI. After all, if Joe Root can bowl off-spin as well as he did against Ireland, why not pick the extra batsman in Jonny Bairstow?
Well, this performance is why. As well as peppering the Headingley crowd with some big-hitting that felt almost wrong for such a touch player, Moeen’s off-spin offered control against high-quality opposition and two huge wickets in Chris Morris and AB de Villiers.
Moeen’s dismissal of De Villiers, South Africa’s captain, effectively sealed this contest in his side’s favour. Earlier half-centuries from Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis had given South Africa a fine start to their run chase.
Indeed, at 145-1 in the 25th over they were perhaps favourites. Mark Wood’s dismissal of Amla, trapped lbw following a smart review, turned the game and a steady flow of wickets from thereon in kept the pressure on the Proteas.
While Stokes and Buttler failed to deliver with the bat, the third IPL star in Woakes did with the ball, taking 4-38 in a fine display of oneday bowling.
It was the performance of Morgan, though, that was most significant for England ahead of the challenges to come.