Morgan laments a 'day to forget'

Cricket365
May 25, 2014

England stand-in captain Eoin Morgan has labelled the second ODI against Sri Lanka as a 'day to forget' after they lost by 157 runs in Durham to level the series.

Sri Lanka batted slowly but steadily to score 256 for eight. England then collapsed to 99 all out in the 27th over, with Morgan the only player to make more than 12 runs (he made 40), and only one of two to reach double figures.

He told <i>ecb.co.uk</i> after the game: "Our bowlers did a pretty good job of reducing them to a score that, if anything, was only a little above par.

"The guys showed enough control to contain Sri Lanka in the first 10 or 15 overs and the game never really got away from us.

"The batting performance was terrible. It is inexcusable and unexplainable to be bowled out for less than a hundred on a wicket like that.

"t was always going to be hard to come back from 29 for four and we were always chasing that partnership.

"These are conditions that we are used to. And we have the skill level to contend with those guys in conditions like that. So it's a day to forget."

England's main downfall was the loss of four early wickets before the score had even reached 30. One major factor was the three wickets taken by Nuwan Kulasekara, who removed the openers and Gary Ballance.

Morgan added of Kula's spell, lamenting: "He hit his length really well and asked a lot of questions but I think we are good enough to negotiate that.

"We have played against him a lot in the past and had success. I remember even when he was the world's number-one ranked bowler we did well."