England ODI captain Eoin Morgan excited for future after New Zealand victory
Tuesday 9 June 2015 22:41, UK
England captain Eoin Morgan is excited about the future after his side delivered a scintillating record-breaking performance to win the first ODI against New Zealand at Edgbaston.
Jos Buttler smashed the second-fastest century by an England batsman and Joe Root also scored a hundred as they posted a total of 408-9, the highest total ever achieved by England in a 50-over game.
The match started badly for Morgan’s side when Jason Roy was dismissed for a first ball duck but, as promised, the home side batted with freedom and purpose.
Steven Finn and Adil Rashid then took four wickets apiece as New Zealand were bowled out for 198 in reply to leave England winners by 210 runs after putting on a performance that was a vast improvement on those during their hugely disappointing World Cup campaign.
"You can look back and say what you want about the World Cup, myself I'm looking forward, and I'm really excited,” Morgan told Sky Sports 2.
"Today encouraged me even more to look further down the line and give guys more of a chance to grow as cricketers.
“The more games we can get into our youngsters, the more performances they put in, and we win games along the way.
“That holds a lot of weight come the next World Cup."
Morgan admitted he was surprised by just how well they did but insisted they must continue to do so on a regular basis.
"I'm as surprised as anybody, I certainly know how difficult it is coming into international cricket as a youngster,” he added.
“But given that we've two or three new faces in our playing XI I think they held themselves brilliantly.
"Joe Root was outstanding, followed by an unbelievable innings from Jos Buttler, but obviously the longevity of what we do might take a little more time because the key is consistency for us.
“Today is an amazing performance but the closer we can get to that every game, the better we become."
Lancashire wicketkeeper-batsman Buttler was named man of the match after he smashed 129 off 77 deliveries but he was quick to praise fellow-centurion Root.
“You've got to give a lot of credit to the way Joe Root went and played,” he said.
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“Obviously losing a wicket first ball he's straight in and I think the way he played gave everyone in the batting order a lot of confidence to go and follow his lead."
Buttler added of the victory: "Really pleasing win, to win with such a margin is great and gives everyone a lot of confidence going forward."
Watch the second ODI from the Kia Oval on Friday. Coverage begins on Sky Sports 2 at 12:30pm.
