Eoin Morgan stays positive despite England going 2-1 down in ODI series
Tuesday 16 June 2015 10:02, UK
England captain Eoin Morgan was not too downcast despite the three-wicket defeat by New Zealand at the Ageas Bowl.
The Kiwis claimed a 2-1 series lead thanks to a century from Ross Taylor, with England counting the cost of a late batting collapse that meant them wasting four overs and a number of dropped catches.
The Black Caps passed their target of 303 for victory with six balls remaining, thanks largely to a huge third-wicket stand of 206 from Kane Williamson (118) and Taylor (110), who both had escapes during their innings.
"I think 300 was a pretty good score, it probably wasn't a match-winning score but I'm proud of the guys and the way they came out and played again in a positive mindset," Morgan told Sky Sports 2.
"I think for a while now we've always played within ourselves and always batted up before the end but for a long time we were looking like getting 350 plus and that's exciting to see, particularly when we're trying to change our mentality with the bat.
"300 was certainly well within the game but I think what cost us was Kane and Ross' partnership. They played really well today and all credit to them. We've got a young bowling line-up and we failed to come up with something to break them up."
England's new commitment to attack at all costs saw Joe Root (54), Morgan (71) and Ben Stokes (68) pile in with decent scores, but losing their last five wickets for 14 runs cost the hosts.
When asked if there needs to be a better balance to England's fresh approach, especially with a view to completing their allotted overs, Morgan swatted that idea away immediately.
He added: "We've taken the overs out of the equation. Bottom line we got 300 on the board - we were aiming for a lot more, which is the important part.
"As long as we set the standards really high we'll win more games than lose playing in this manner."
But he was in agreement when asked if an improvement was needed in their fielding, as he added: "Absolutely. It's something we're honing in on and it's something we can only get better on. We've got a lot of talent in the field and like anything, we set the bar high and our skill level is just a bit down at the moment."
