Morgan wants to rule the world after steering England to the fourth highest run chase ever
EOIN MORGAN blasted England to a series win and the fourth highest run chase of all time at Centurion yesterday – then set his sights on World T20 glory. Victory was secured by Moeen Ali’s crossbatted four as England chased down 223 with five balls and five wickets to spare.
It was also their second highest pursuit – just behind the 230 they reeled in against South Africa in Mumbai in the last World T20.
The totally focused Irishman ensured they got there, Morgan’s unbeaten 57 in 22 balls the fuel of a turbocharged run to clinch a 2-1 series win.
As he stood on the outfield clutching another piece of silverware, Morgan talked about the trophy which eluded England in Kolkata three years ago.
And after giving the thumbs up to at least two more campaigns in the shortest format of cricket, righting that wrong will be Morgan’s driving force from now until October.
England will march into the ICC tournament in Australia as one of the favourites to be crowned champions. And on this evidence they will be feared by everybody.
They have as powerful a batting unit as any nation in world cricket.
And while the return of Jofra Archer will boost the bowling ranks, Chris Jordan and Tom Curran have done enough here to ensure they will be on the plane Down Under.
Morgan said: “Wins like this create belief that you can chase anything down.
“It also reinforced what our method is.
“It’s a reference point to what we can do, there’s no limit on restricting yourself to certain things.
“You want to leave everything out there with the bat. It won’t always work, but it will give us the best chance of winning.
“Moving forward from this series, our learning will continue to get better, hopefully, because I don’t think we’ve played at our best in this series.”
England were made to work for this victory with South Africa posting a big total of 222-6, Quinton de Kock, Temba Bavuma and Heinrich Klaasen all contributing – and South Africa smashing 13 sixes. The reply got off to a flier with Jos Buttler proving he can open with a destructive half century, featuring in a partnership of 91 with Jonny Bairstow.
Buttler reached his fifty in 23 balls and Bairstow his in 27.
But both were eclipsed by Morgan, who equalled his previous best in 21 balls from Napier in November.
Morgan cleared the ropes seven times in his innings and finished with a strike rate of well over 250.
It was a chanceless knock until he was dropped on 55 – a difficult swirling chance to Dwaine Pretorius – when just three runs were needed.
This has been a useful series with significant ticks for Moeen, Curran, Jason Roy and Bairstow.
Buttler belatedly proved what a talent he is, while Ben Stokes remains a supreme competitor.
“The belief and the way we stayed calm was impressive,” said Buttler.
“There was never any frantic hitting and Eoin Morgan sums that up brilliantly.
“He is hitting the ball into the stands but is still in complete control. That calmness is one of the biggest factors to chasing down targets successfully.”
SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP ABERDEEN (1) 1 CELTIC (1)
Taylor 27 McGregor 10 Ajer 81
Att: 14,135 HIBERNIAN (2) 2 Docherty 28 Jackson 45 Att: 5,370 LIVINGSTON (0) 0 Att: 48,302
KILMARNCK (1) Burke 30
RANGERS (0) Arfield 59 1 1
TUNNOCK’S CARAMEL WAFER CHALLENGE CUP Semi-final: Inverness CT 2 Rangers U21 1.
SSE WOMEN’S FA CUP,
5th Round: Man City 10 Ipswich 0, Sunderland 0 Birmingham City 1.
BBL CHAMPIONSHIP Cheshire 71 Glasgow 87, Manchester 87 Sheffield 106, Plymouth 74 Leicester 90. BBL TROPHY, Semi-final 2nd leg: Bristol 92 Team Solent Kestrels 73 (Team Solent bt Bristol 176-159 on agg).
WOMEN’S ISPS HANDA AUSTRALIAN OPEN, ADELAIDE, Final Round 278 I Park (Kor) 67 69 68 74 281 A Olson (USA) 68 72 71 70 Also: 285 J Ewart Shadoff (Eng) 66 70 77 72.
ELITE LEAGUE
Coventry 5 Glasgow 3, Fife 3 Sheffield 1, Guildford 6 Cardiff 3, Nottingham 4 Belfast 0.
MANBETX WELSH OPEN CARDIFF, Final: S Murphy (Eng) bt K Wilson (Eng) 9-1.
2
BETFRED SUPER LEAGUE HULL 18 ST HELENS 32 Hull—T: Tuimavave (2), Shaul. G: Sneyd (3). St Helens—T: Costello, Thompson, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Bentley, Smith. G: Makinson (6).
Att: 12,399
WAKEFIELD 18 WARRINGTON Wakefield—T: Ashurst, Johnstone. Hampshire (5). Warrington—T: Ratchford. G: Ratchford (2). BETFRED CHAMPIONSHIP: Batley 20 Swinton 10, Bradford 22 Featherstone 30, Halifax P Dewsbury P, Leigh 34 York 0, Sheffield 14 Toulouse 26, Whitehaven 14 Oldham 16, Widnes 12 London Broncos 38.
CORAL CHALLENGE CUP 3RD ROUND: Barrow 38 London Skolars 18, Keighley P Newcastle P, Workington 28 West Bowling 22, Rochdale 54 York Acorn 10. 8 G:
GALLAGHER PREMIERSHIP NORTH’PTON 14 BRISTOL 20 Northampton—T: Mallinder. P: Grayson (3).
Bristol—T: Purdy, Thiede. C: Sheedy (2). P: Sheedy, Madigan.
P W D L B F
Exeter 10 7 0 3 6 246 North’pton 10 6 0 4 6 259 Sale 10 5 0 5 6 236 Bristol 10 5 1 4 4 229 Bath 10 6 0 4 1 189 Gloucester 10 4 0 6 7 209 Harlequins 10 4 1 5 4 224
Lon Irish 10 4 1 5 4 205 Worcester 10 4 0 6 3 174 Wasps 10 3 0 7 6 204 Leicester 10 3 1 6 2 177 Saracens 10 7 0 3 5 277 * Saracens deducted 105 points
A Pts 169 34 217 30 170 26 226 26 205 25 196 23 260 22 255 22 258 19 270 18 234 16 169 -72
ATP ROTTERDAM OPEN Final: G Monfils (Fra) bt F Auger-Aliassime (Can) 6-2 6-4. ATP ARGENTINA OPEN Buenos Aires, Final: C Ruud (Nor) bt P Sousa (Por) 6-1 6-4. WTA ST. PETERSBURG OPEN Final: K Bertens (Ned) bt (8) E Rybakina (Kaz) 6-1 6-3.
WTA THAILAND OPEN Hua Hin, Final: M Linette (Pol) bt L Kung (Swi) 6-3 6-2.
(7.45 unless stated) Premier League
Chelsea v Man Utd (8) Vanarama National North: Gloucester v Gateshead South: Chelmsford v Tonbridge SSE Women’s FA Cup 5th Round Bristol City v Everton (7.30) Coventry v Tottenham Chelsea v Liverpool (7)