Morgan: We played smart and aggressive cricket

England

Cricket365
April 8, 2016

After beating Sri Lanka in Delhi on Saturday to reach the semifinals, England captain Eoin Morgan said his team adapted better to conditions and played smart and aggressive cricket.

The game was played on the same pitch that saw England collapse to 57 for six against Afghanistan but they batted a lot better to score a competitive 171 for four before restricting the Sri Lankans to 161 for eight to win by 10 runs.

Morgan said after the game: "With the bat we adapted a lot better than we did against Afghanistan. We showed we are capable of playing both smart cricket and aggressive cricket.

"I think we've struggled to do that in the last six to eight months or so and it's an area we are constantly trying to improve.

"But today went a long way to doing that. The first 15 overs we batted weren't cautious but they were on the smart side and, given the value of having two 'in' batsman for the last five or so overs, the impact it can have with guys like Jos Buttler well set, that has a big impact on the game."

Morgan is happy that England will head into last four of the global tournament having won three out of their four group matches.

They were beaten by a Chris Gayle inspired West Indies before chasing down a record total of 230 to beat South Africa. They then overcame their batting collapse to see off the Afghans by 15 runs.

Morgan said: "I think in three of our wins we've had to show an immense amount of character. Having to chase down 230 then, against Afghanistan we put our backs against the wall early and had to fight quite hard.

"And today it was completely different in the way we were way ahead of the game. It asked a completely different question of us."