We didn't deserve to win today's game: Eoin Morgan

Sports Saturday 22/June/2019 21:30 PM
By: Times News Service
We didn't deserve to win today's game: Eoin Morgan

Manchester: Eoin Morgan expressed disappointment at his side’s batting display after England folded for 212 in their chase of 233 against Sri Lanka to succumb to their second defeat of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.

At 127/3 after 30.2 overs, England appeared to be on course for victory with the in-form Joe Root having passed fifty, but Sri Lanka’s bowlers fought back to help secure a thrilling 20-run win.

Speaking after the match, Morgan lamented his side’s ability to construct a major partnership of note, with a 54-run partnership between Root and Ben Stokes the highest of the innings.

“You know, partnerships are very important,” said Morgan. “We struggled to get enough partnerships going, or one substantial one. There were a couple of individual innings. But that is not good enough to win a game.

With England’s bowlers impressing once more – particularly the pace duo of Jofra Archer and Mark Wood – Morgan indicated that the target did not appear a problematic one at the halfway stage, with ‘about 40 more, maybe 50 more’ a potential cause for concern.

Nonetheless, England’s lower-order faltered with the dismissal of Moeen Ali to Dhananjaya de Silva beginning a collapse of four wickets for just 16 runs. When questioned on whether the departure of Moeen was a turning point, Morgan refuted such a notion.

“I would say there were quite a few wickets that were turning points, simply in the fact that you have got guys coming in at 6 who average 40, 7 averaging 30. We bat all the way down. So every single one is quite significant because every single one could establish a partnership that could win you the game.”

Nonetheless, Morgan still displayed some positivity in defeat: "I think when we get beaten we tend to come back quite strong. We tend to resort to being aggressive, smart, positive cricket, so let's hope that is the case on Tuesday."