MORGAN MARKER
Skipper is undroppable as 92 from 91 balls helps England to series lead
IF THE idea that Eoin Morgan might drop himself from England’s one-day team was fanciful a few days ago, it is inconceivable now.
A resourceful innings of 92 from 91 balls was the cornerstone of his side’s 278 for nine in the second ODI in Dambulla. And when the rain came, his side were well ahead on Duckworth-Lewis-Stern, thanks to three early wickets for Chris Woakes and a lively contribution from fast bowler Olly Stone.
Should England win in Pallekele on Wednesday, they will be 2-0 up with two to play and halfway to sc rubbing out the traumatic memories of their 5-2 defeat here four years ago.
Morgan was one of t he few successes of that trip and showed precisely why. On a characteristic Sri Lankan pitch that rewarded brain rather than brawn, he was in the mood from the start, getting off the mark with a straight six off Tissara Perera and making liberal use of the sweep.
Only when he offered a tame return catch to the 35- year- old Lasith Malinga — who dusted off his box of death-bowling tricks to collect five for 44 — did England’s captain put a foot wrong.
Leadership comes in many forms and by admitting he would consider leaving himself out if it strengthened England’s chances of lifting their first 50- over World Cup, Morgan was effectively telling his team-mates that he was not a protected species.
But man-management needs to be backed up by run-making and the subsequent struggles of the middle order here — England slipped from 190 for three to 254 for nine before a late flurry from Adil Rashid and Stone—lent his innings an impressive afterglow.
There were also runs, plus a national record, for Joe Root, whose own position in charge of the Test team was called into question recently by Shane Warne, that arch-baiter of England captains.
Warne, who has been busy plugging a new book, said Root should hand control to Jos Buttler and focus on his batting. And though the format might have been different, Root’s 71 quietly made a point. It also extended his sequence between one-day dismissals to 309 runs — beating Graeme Hick’s England record of 301.
But for the excellence of Malinga, who became the oldest bowler to take an ODI five-for since Pakistan’s Wasim Akram in 2003, England would have passed 300 yet again.
Having removed Jason Roy with the fourth ball of the game, caught off a leading edge at midwicket, Malinga returned to get rid of Morgan, then bowled Moeen Ali first ball with a trademark slower yorker.
Woakes and Liam Dawson both fell to similar deliveries, though Woakes was clearly unhappy about a ball that looked to the naked eye to be heading down leg.
Stone showed his gumption in an unbeaten last-wicket stand of 24, then underlined why England have given pace a chance, bouncing out the dangerous Niroshan Dickwella with his seventh ball at this level.
Either side of that, Woakes proved too good for Upul Tharanga, Dinesh Chandimal and Dasun Shanaka as Sri Lanka slipped to 31 for four. But it was the speed and hostility of Stone, who at times touched 90mph, which pleased his captain, not least because Liam Plunkett i s not available until the fourth match of this series because he is getting married.
‘To be honest, there hasn’t been a huge amount of depth i n one position and that’s replacing Liam Plunkett,’ said Morgan. ‘ He has been phenomenal for us for the last few years.
‘When he went down injured in Australia, we found it very difficult to get a bowler with the same attributes, to bowl quick and change the pace of the game. There were signs today suggesting Olly could be one of those guys. Even taking the new ball gives him a new string to his bow. Liam doesn’t really do that. I don’t think you can disregard Olly from the World Cup based on today.’
With 20 overs needed for a result, Morgan hurried through the overs by using the spin of Ali and Dawson, who had Kusal Perera taken at midwicket by Roy to make it 74 for five. Perera hit two sixes in Rashid’s first over but, when the heavens opened, Sri Lanka were still 31 runs adrift on the rain-charts.