Morgan eager to see improvement

Australia

England skipper Eoin Morgan was not satiafied with his team’s batting effort in their four wicket victory over Australia.

England cruised past the Australia total with 34 balls to spare but Morgan was not happy that the task of closing out the innings was left to allrounder Chris Woakes.

Middle-order man Joe Root was there playing the anchor but Morgan himself, Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali will all feel they should do better.

Morgan told ABC after the win: “I’d like to think we’ll get better as we go on but today was an outstanding bowling performance.

“Certainly it was by far from our best performance with the bat. We are still looking for the complete batting performance – hopefully we’ll get it on Sunday. The confidence is in the dressing room at the moment.”

England stole a march on Australia with their use of spin at the Gabba, with Root surprisingly bagging the scalps of Aussie skipper Steve Smith and Travis Head to end as the pick of the bowlers.

Root said after the match that the ball spun more than they thought it would and encouraged them to use their slower bowlers more.

Speaking to TMS after the match Root said: “It’s always nice to contribute with the ball. It probably spun more than we thought it might. I managed to sneak some overs in – and it went quite nicely.

“It’s important to have the skill to do both – to set well and chase big scores down. When it comes to us setting in these conditions, we have to make sure we do that well too.”

Australia now face a must win clash with England at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday.

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