Eoin Morgan agreed that England got “outplayed” by Australia in Tuesday’s crunch World Cup game at Lord’s. But the England captain also feels that it would have been a “horrific” decision had he opted to bat first after winning the toss.
“We were outplayed for most of the match. We bowled well upfront, but were a little bit unlucky as Australia played and missed a lot.
“The wicket got a little better, but was still challenging. It was soft this morning, so choosing to bat would’ve been a horrific decision,” Morgan said during the post-match presentation.
The 64-run defeat to Australia was England’s third loss in the Cup, with their prospects of making the semi-finals getting more complicated. They face India next in Birmingham on Sunday, which now is a must-win game for them.
“Given the circumstances, it’s not hugely disappointing. Our fate is in our hands,” Morgan said.
“Everything we need to turn around is simple… Won’t search for anything that’s not there… Everything is within our control. We just need to produce a performance worthy of winning either one or the next two games,” he said further.
The confidence within the group has not been massively affected, according to Morgan, despite the back-to-back defeats.
“I think it will take a little bit of a hit. But I certainly don’t think it has knocked anybody in the changing room.
“Normally, when we lose games of cricket, like I mentioned earlier, we go back to what we do well. We’ll still strive to do that for Sunday’s game,” the skipper stressed.
Morgan feels England were undone more by the opposition’s good bowling than their poor shot selection. “I think early on, Australia bowled well. Having us at 20-odd for three obviously creates a bigger challenge chasing 280 plus.
“So, to make those inroads, I think they bowled well,” he said.
In these tough times, Morgan believes he can “make a difference” being the captain of the side and lead from the front.