Sunday’s New Zealand versus England match ended with a win by a small margin for England, but a superior run rate ensured New Zealand qualified for the tri-series final.
But one thing worth noting was that England looked a much better outfit than they did in the last two games.
It would be fair to say Eoin Morgan coming into the team did them fair bit of good. He finished the day with 80 runs not out off 46 balls to take his team to a competitive total, and even after a strong start from the Kiwis he managed to pull things back to end his series on a high.
The win says a lot about England. Especially in Ben Stokes’s absence Morgan is the team’s most valuable player. Whether as captain or at the crease, he seems to have that x-factor that spurs on any team.
After the 2015 World Cup debacle things got to Morgan so badly that he decided to completely change the outlook of the team, sticking to one approach: attack, attack, attack.
(AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)
With new faces came the new energy he was looking for, and a score of 9/408 showed he was able to execute what he was after. What followed were wins against New Zealand, Pakistan, the West Indies, Sri Lanka and Australia and a strong showing in the 2016 T20 world cup.
After the first home season, which was the start of a special journey for this team, Eoin Morgan was the second leading run-scorer in the ODI format in the history of English cricket.
Even when Australia had England at 3/41 in the Champions Trophy he still decided to play his naturally aggressive game. He did the same in the fourth ODI, when England was reduced to 5/8.
After the match he said he would like to see his team not tone down the aggressive approach, and he went on to say he would prefer his team to be 2/40 instead of 0/20 after ten overs.
Those are pretty strong words, and it’s definitely a sign of a man with intensity. He knows what he’s out to achieve and, as Adil Rashid said just before the New Zealand game, the impact a missing Morgan has on the team shows the respect he commands among his teammates.
[latest_videos_strip category=”cricket” name=”Cricket”]
And after three dull performances from his side his form surely must have lifted the gloomy spirit of the team.
It’s no secret current team director Andrew Strauss, head coach Trevor Bayliss and assistant coach Paul Farbrace have their eyes more on next year’s home world cup than the previous coach did, who prefered red-ball cricket over the white-ball format.
With England’s current form and favourable home conditions the likelihood of England making the final can’t be denied. For the first time in many years it can be said that England are strong contenders to lift the World Cup trophy next year.
A lot of credit goes to captain Eoin Morgan, who decided to make this paradigm shift, and that makes him England’s most valuable player. The team simply can’t do without him.
Build your own fantasy cricket team and put it to the test with Draftstars daily fantasy competitions. Pick your match, pick your team and watch the points roll in to take out cash prizes on each match. What are you really gambling with? Set a deposit limit.
While a premature retirement isn’t the solution, he or England want, he may be forced into it if he can’t maintain a long run of matches.
England's chances of retaining the Twenty20 World Cup have been hit for six with the news Ben Stokes has opted out of selection for…
Bazball was developed as a strategy devised to use the resources efficiently rather than revolutionize the system.
England's tour of India has ended in abject fashion as the tourists were hammered by an innings and 64 runs inside three days, with…
India have bowled England out for a below-par 218 and cruised to 1-135 in reply to seize early control of the fifth and final…
India have accomplished a nervy run-chase to secure a five-wicket victory against England in the fourth cricket Test in Ranchi. Chasing a modest 192…
