England braced for West Indies challenge in World T20 final
By Dev Trehan
Last Updated: 03/04/16 12:17am
Eoin Morgan says England will focus on the entire West Indies team and not just Chris Gayle when the two sides clash in Sunday’s World Twenty20 final.
England sealed their place in the final with an emphatic seven-wicket win over New Zealand, with the West Indies winning by the same margin against host nation India a day later.
Gayle scored an unbeaten century as West Indies beat England by six wickets in the Super 10 stage of the tournament and captain Morgan insists his side is well prepared for what will be a far from normal contest.
"Even before we played the West Indies in the group stages I was quite firm in saying Chris Gayle wasn't just the West Indies team," Morgan told reporters in Kolkata ahead of Sunday's final.
"It's important that when you playing against good sides you don't focus on one or two players. It's everybody, because anybody can hurt you and I think India witnessed that and everybody witnessed that with Lendl Simmons' innings.
"We're quite real about things. We know it's not going to be a normal game. Even in the semi-final that we played there was a lot of hype around the expectation of playing in a final.
"I want all of our players to embrace it. Tomorrow everything will feel a little bit rushed to start with; it's important we're in a really good frame of mind to slow things down when needed and more importantly execute our skills.
"Everybody is fit for selection which is great. A couple of guys were sick over the past few days but they have pulled up well today so everybody will train."
England failed to advance from the group stages at the 2014 tournament - losing three of their four matches - and Morgan says the team are reaping the benefits of the improvements they have made in the short format of the game.
"I think [winning the tournament] would mean a huge amount," he said.
"I think we have made strides in the last few years in white ball cricket. I think this would be a great reward for the mindset we have shown, and dedication and hard work we have put in."
Will England win the World T20? Find out by watching their match with West Indies from 1.30pm, Sunday, Sky Sports 2. Before then see if West Indies Women can overcome Australia Women in the Women's World Twenty20 Final, live on Sky Sports 2 on Sunday from 9.30am.
