SNAP CRACKLE ‘N FLOP
DS1ST Morgan’s men fizzle out after Bairstow fireworks
ENGLAND’S big-hitting strategy set off like a firework but fizzled out in the same way as they fell 66 runs short of India in the first ODI.
But skipper Eoin Morgan vowed his side will keep swinging and stay true to their philosophy despite blowing a golden chance yesterday.
Morgan’s men were well on course for their target of 318, with Jonny Bairstow in sparkling form, but then collapsed as their all-out policy of aggression backfired.
And even though England found themselves well short, Morgan was more than happy with the style of defeat as his players didn’t change their strategy.
“When we have bad days with the bat it can potentially look worse than it is,” said
Morgan. “Sometimes that doesn’t work because we don’t get it right, but for us losing like that is way better than losing by 10 or 20 runs playing in a different manner that doesn’t suit us. “We play an aggressive brand of cricket we just need to get better and up-skill a bit more and execute better than we did. “This is the way we play and this is the way we will continue to play. “It is important for us to reinforce the method that has worked for us over the last five years.” World champions or not,
England were again reminded of just how hard it is to win any kind of cricket in India as they succumbed to their 22nd defeat out of 27 ODIS there.
And it was their high-octane style that let them down as Virat Kohli (left) and his men fired them out for 251 with just under eight overs left in the innings.
Not even the fastest of fast starts could power England all the way to their target despite the best efforts of Jason Roy and Bairstow.
But there are a few crucial ingredients missing from this team compared to the one that lifted the trophy and the unavailability of Joe Root at No.3 was perhaps felt the most.
There was still more than enough quality and experience in the batting order for England to have got over the line. But if
Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Morgan have off days, then there is not a lot you can do.
It was a good day for Indian debutants with Krunal Pandya, older brother of Hardik, scoring a blistering 58 not out before breaking down with emotion, thinking of his late father who passed away in January.
Following Shikhar Dhawan’s 98, it was the fastest fifty on debut coming from just 26 balls.
Krunal was unable to bring himself to talk about it, though, as he collapsed in tears after saying: “This one was for my dad. It was an emotional moment.”
England also suffered a couple of injuries in the field with Sam Billings hurting his shoulder and Morgan needing four stitches in the webbing of a hand.