‘Proud’ Morgan hopes to carry on leading England

England were “devastated” to lose to New Zealand in the T20 World Cup semi-finals but proud to have fought “unbelievably well”, said limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan, who hopes to continue as the leader of the side. “Yeah, we’re devastated. To be on the wrong side of a close game is not easy to take. We fought unbelievably well on a wicket that didn’t necessarily suit our batting, but we managed to post in and around a par score,” Morgan said at the postmatch press conference. “I’m extremely proud of the performance that we put in. When you play really well, it doesn’t always guarantee that you win games. Unfortunately, we found ourselves on the wrong side of a really tight game today. “I hope to be back, I am still offering enough, and I love playing in this changing room. Incredibly proud to be their leader,” said the 35-year-old, who has led the English T20 side since 2014. Morgan said England were in the game till the arrival of James Neesham, who completely changed the complexion of the match, playing shots not even his batters could execute on a sluggish pitch. “We were brilliant with the ball. We were right in the game probably until Jimmy Neesham came to the wicket, if not ahead of the game. Everything worked right up until Neesham came in. It was a fantastic cameo in highpressure circumstances. “Throughout those innings everybody struggled to clear the ropes on both sides, that was just the nature of the pitch. You have to take your hat off to him. He played really well. We’ve played against Jimmy a lot. He’s not struck the ball like that against us ever. It’s really good batting.” He also praised Black Caps opener Mitchell for his unbeaten knock which was studded with four boundaries and as many sixes. “I’d say, so he’s played a hell of a hand today. He’s played really well against the No. 1 side in the world and taken his side right to the final.” Morgan admitted that dew wasn’t a major factor in the eventual outcome. “Maybe a little bit (of dew factor). But they have still outplayed us. We know the dew is around. We were still right in the game. I don’t think it was a major factor, maybe an advantage slightly but not a major factor,” he said. “We like pitches where you can free yourselves and get after the opposition. We didn’t feel as if we could do that, the pitch being a little bit slower but full credit to the Black Caps. They were very disciplined in line and length they bowled, the use of slower balls, and their spinners bowled well.”