Eoin Morgan’s Unbeaten Century Inspires England’s Victory over Australia
Eoin Morgan steered England to victory in their first ODI against Australia. There was little to differentiate between the traditional rivals playing each other at The Rose Bowl in England. But Morgan’s unbeaten century was enough to defeat Australia by 4 wickets, and to take a 1-0 lead in the 5-match series.
Morgan’s classy innings was sufficient for England to seize initiative early in the series. Despite typically solid performance by Michael Clarke, it was Morgan’s innings which was under limelight. Earlier, Morgan had scored against lowly rated nations such as Canada and Scotland, but this innings was his first against a major nation. And to score highly against Australia is entirely different matter. He dominated the Australian bowlers as he took his team to victory with four overs to spare. The only thing that was of concern in the last few overs was whether there were enough runs left on the scoreboard for Morgan to complete his century. And he completed his century with style when he hit a straight drive for four to complete the English victory. Morgan was phenomenal as he bashed Australian bowlers all over the ground, in an innings that contained 16 boundaries.
On the other hand, it was Michael Clarke who anchored the Australian innings through an unbeaten and formidable 87. Despite a sound batting pitch, it was disappointing to watch Australia post a nominal 267 for 7 in 50 overs. This could be attributed to fact that Aussies lost their wickets on regular intervals.
Watson started the innings in confident fashion, but was struck out by Stuart Broad for 32 off 26 balls. Not long after, Wright struck to bag two wickets of Tim Paine and Ricky Ponting. After Australia’s early loss, Michael Clarke stabilized the Australian innings. However, despite Clarke’s steady innings, Australia kept on losing wickets on the other end. Clarke did solidify the Australian innings, but at the cost of run rate (which was an overall 5.34 runs per over.) At one point, Australia were cruising at a rate that would have taken them to 300 plus, but the losing of wickets at regular intervals limited Australia to a moderate 267. Clarke remained unbeaten till the end of the innings. He scored 7 boundaries in his score of 87. Anderson, Wright and Broad all took two wickets apiece, with Yardy claiming Mike Hussey’s wicket.
England had a shaky start, as they lost their captain Andrew Strauss in the early overs (10 off 11 balls). Ryan Harris took Strauss’ wicket. Shane Watson took care of Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood. After the dismissal of Kieswetter, Morgan came to the wicket to save England from defeat. When Morgan came, England was 97 for 4 in 20 overs – the perfect recipe for a batting collapse. Morgan, alongside Luke Wright, dominated the Australian bowlers and took England to their target. He hit a boundary to conclude their victory and his innings in style.
Talking to reporters after the match, he said, “I'm just doing what I practise really. It was a belting wicket. I played my percentages and took it on. It's tough playing against Australia, especially with the attack they have.” After his eye-grabbing performance in the T20 championship earlier in the year and this performance, Irish Morgan has successfully cemented his place in the starting 11.
Even Captain Andrew Strauss was full of praise for Morgan. Strauss said, “The great thing about Morgy is he is a finisher, but he does it in an aggressive manner as well, and that puts opposition captains under pressure.” Strauss even went to the extent of comparing him with former Australian lower-order batsman Michael Bevan. He said, “We've been looking for a Michael Bevan-type character for quite a long time, and Morgs has shown a few times in both 50-over and 20-over cricket that he can play in a similar fashion, and perhaps a bit more aggressively than Bevan.”
It will be interesting to see how Australia responds to this defeat. With the T20 Championship final defeat still fresh in their minds, the Aussies will come all out against England in the coming ODIs.
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