Monday 22 February 2016 07:08, UK
Eoin Morgan has backed England to respond strongly to their mini slump in form in white-ball cricket ahead of March's World T20.
England were thumped by South Africa in the second T20I in Johannesburg on Sunday to lose the series 2-0, having been beaten 3-2 in the preceding ODI series despite taking a 2-0 lead.
The tourists shipped their final seven wickets for a paltry 14 runs at the Wanderers during a fifth straight limited-overs defeat, but Morgan insists his side have the 'hunger' to bounce back.
We are a very young and exciting team who on our day can beat any side in the world but we might also have a blip along the way with inexperience we have.
"We have to take the good with the bad," he said. "We are a very young and exciting team who on our day can beat any side in the world but we might also have a blip along the way with inexperience we have.
"When you are winning all the time you don't always appreciate it but now we are being tested so it is a good stage for us - how we come back from it is more important than anything.
"We were so far behind the eight ball at the previous World Cup that we have so much ground to make up as we try and play a brutal way, like South Africa do with bat and ball, and win a world tournament.
"We just haven't been good enough over the last few games and haven't deserved to win but we talk about it all the time and guys are hungry to learn, which is a good sign, so we are optimistic ahead of the World T20."
Reflecting on England's batting collapse, which was triggered by Jos Buttler (54) and Morgan (38) falling from successive balls in the 17th over with the scores on 157, the captain added: "It was a pretty brutal day.
"It started pretty well, we were in a commanding position and it looked like we could get 180, 190 or even 200 if Buttler hit his straps but then it fell away - our strategy was right but the execution of our skills was poor."
Morgan also defended England's decision to draft in batsman Sam Billings in place of left-arm seamer David Willey as South Africa surpassed his team's total of 171 with 32 balls to spare, thanks chiefly to AB de Villiers (71 from 29) and Hashim Amla (69no from 38).
"We wanted to bat deep but also wanted to put it in the bowler's hands with just five of them and Joe Root as the sixth," he added.
"I don't think it would have made much difference unless we had a chinaman or a leg-spinner to give us variations on such a good wicket."
Watch the ICC World T20, live on Sky Sports from March 8.
