"Our fielding has to remain a constant throughout the side and I thought it was way below par today and probably cost us 15-20 runs."
Tuesday 4 June 2019 07:27, UK
Eoin Morgan bemoaned England's sloppiness in the field after the World Cup hosts fell to a 14-run defeat by Pakistan at Trent Bridge.
After a flawless game in the field during their win over South Africa in the tournament's curtain-raiser at The Oval, Jason Roy was guilty of putting down a simple catch - Mohammad Hafeez when on 14 - and some wayward throws from the deep and infield flew away for costly extra runs.
While the England captain expects his players' form with bat and ball to fluctuate throughout the competition, Morgan admitted it was the performance in the field that cost the team the match.
"Our fielding has to remain a constant throughout the side and I thought it was way below par today and probably cost us 15-20 runs," said Morgan.
"I thought we were out-fielded today and it is probably the difference between the sides. Our performances are going to go up and down throughout the tournament with the bat and ball."
Morgan also rued the regular loss of wickets that stopped England from building substantial partnerships, with only Joe Root and Jos Buttler managing to share at least a half-century stand.
Root (107) and Buttler (103) put on an impressive fifth-wicket 130-run partnership but the pair fell within five overs of each other as they failed to drag England over the line in their chase of 349.
"Trent Bridge is a very high scoring ground," Morgan added. "The wicket we felt was good, the outfield was rapid and we felt if we got partnerships going 350 was certainly within our grasp.
"Losing early wickets was not ideal but Joe and Jos kept us in the game right until the mid to early 40th over. If we had got a considerable partnership going early on in the innings it could have got us over the line."
Shane Warne reiterated Morgan's comments about England's struggles in the field, but suggested it might not be a bad thing coming so early in the tournament.
"As Morgan said, the fielding was probably the difference. 15 or 20 runs, and that's the difference," Warne told Sky Sports.
"When someone [Roy] drops a pretty simple catch like that, and you've been a very good fielding side, it does set a little bit of a tone.
"It was lazy. Not enough urgency in the field. Not enough intensity. I don't know if England brought their A-game today right from the word go. Perhaps they took Pakistan a bit lightly?
"That's a bit harsh on Pakistan, who deserved the win today. But England weren't at their best, and that's going to happen over the course of a tournament. Better it happens now.
"England are the favourites for the competition. To have a little loss like that at the start of the tournament helps in terms of saying 'right boys, let's not get away from the basics'."
Watch Afghanistan take on Sri Lanka live on Sky Sports Cricket World Cup from 10am on Tuesday, June 4.
