Eoin Morgan says England feel more confident after Scotland win in Cricket World Cup
'We still need to be a bit more ruthless and keep things simple'
Monday 23 February 2015 10:45, UK
England’s comprehensive World Cup victory over Scotland will boost team morale for the rest of the tournament, says Eoin Morgan.
Morgan’s men were thumped by Australia and New Zealand in their first two Pool A games, but bounced back on Monday with a 119-run triumph at Hagley Oval.
And Morgan reckons that if England can be a touch more “ruthless” in future matches, they can compete with the best sides in the competition.
"A win just puts things a little more at ease,” said Morgan, whose team posted 303-8 in Christchurch before dismissing Scotland for 184 in 42.2 overs.
“It gives guys a little bit of confidence and even the guys who didn't perform today will benefit from the guys who have had a little bit of success today.
We're not rating ourselves against other teams; it’s just a matter of focusing exactly on what we do and trying to produce it as often as possible.
"We're not rating ourselves against other teams; it’s just a matter of focusing exactly on what we do and trying to produce it as often as possible.
“I think we just need a little bit more consistency in what we do by being ruthless and very simple in the way we approach things.
"In your head I think you can be guilty of building up a tournament, convincing yourself you have to play your best throughout and hammer every side in order to win it.
“The games I've watched haven't shown that at all; strong sides have been beaten so it's about getting points on the board."
Privileged
Moeen Ali’s 128 off 107 balls teed up England’s innings – the opener crunching 12 fours and five sixes en route to his second ODI ton – but the Worcestershire man also shone with the ball, collecting 2-47 from his 10 overs of spin.
“I rate [Moeen] very highly,” added Morgan. “He's an all-rounder that we haven't had for a very long time.
"He's somebody who opens the batting and plays in the fashion that he does and gets real purchase on the ball. I think we are very privileged to have him and we certainly don't undervalue him."
Scotland, meanwhile, have now suffered two defeats from two, with the Christchurch reverse following on from last week’s loss to rampant co-hosts New Zealand.
Scotland skipper, Preston Mommsen, believes his team were below their best in both disciplines.
Live Cricket World Cup 2015
"We're very disappointed," said Mommsen, who saw opener Kyle Coetzer (71) top score for the associate nation after seamer Josh Davey (4-68) had snaffled four England wickets.
"In the second half of their innings I thought we did brilliantly to restrict them to 300 with the platform they had and the batters they had to come, but were very disappointed with our start with the ball.
"We went into the half-time break pretty sure we were in with a shout. Unfortunately, with the bat we just couldn't get going.
"We're a better side than we showed today. We couldn't quite put in the full package, and that's quite regrettable.”
Watch highlights of England's game with Scotland throughout the day on Sky Sports World Cup and then catch their next match, versus Sri Lanka, from 9pm on Saturday.
