Eoin Morgan was pretty impressed by his side’s convincing win over India but conceded that the shorter boundary always puts pressure on the side setting the target. The English skipper, who was playing his 100th T20I match today, thanked Jos Buttler for his innings that coasted England to win.
After losing the second T20I thanks to a clinical Indian bowling effort and a flawless partnership between Ishan Kishan and Virat Kohli, England roared back in the third T20I in Ahmedabad. Winning the toss was important but the way Jofra Archer and Mark Wood used the pace of the wicket to topple the hosts’ top-order batting line-up would have made any English fan happy and Morgan couldn’t keep his calm for the way his players adjusted to the wicket.
“The carry we saw throughout the whole game, it was surprising. Our guys don’t find it too hard to adjust. The first half of our bowling was exceptional. The wicket stayed similar,” Morgan said in the post-match presentation.
With the new wicket being used for the game, one side of the boundary was less than 60 Meter long with behind the square line moving to 77M. It brought a dimension battle to the fore as it did in the 2019 World Cup match between the side and England, once again, aced that with elan. Morgan stated that it was always going to be tricky for the team batting first to set up a target on such wickets.
“When there’s one short side, you don’t know what’s a good score. It’s just the dynamics of T20 cricket.”
Jos Buttler, despite his indifferent form in the last two games, was always going to come back with a bang and come back he did with an unbeaten 52-ball 83 to hand India a comprehensive pasting. In the presentation, Buttler was effusive in praise for Morgan and his contribution to English cricket, which made the skipper a bit emotional when his turn came to speak.
“Jos is a world-class player, we are very lucky to have him. He competes with the best when it comes to opening the batting. He’s a great leader within our group. He’s a great friend of mine. Our families are pretty close as well. The words he said really warmed my heart and I am very grateful for that,” Morgan added.
The fourth T20I of the series will be played on Thursday (March 18) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
