Eoin Morgan Lavishes Praise On Tom Curran After England's Thrilling Win Over South Africa

England cricket team skipper Eoin Morgan hailed his compatriot Tom Curran for his death bowling after he helped his team beat hosts South Africa by two runs, in a thrilling T20I match at Durban. England have now pulled level in the series with the Proteas who themselves won the first T20 fixture by just one run.

England and South Africa will now contest in the series decider on Sunday at the Centurion, Gauteng. The visiting team will be indebted to Curran, who was able to defend 15 runs from his last over, and more importantly three runs from the final two balls.

The English pacer, who came into the team courtesy of Jofra Archer’s injury, put in a crucial shift right at the death, pinning South African batsman Dwaine Pretorius lbw, before taking new man Bjorn Fortuin’s wicket on the last ball.

Curran’s match-winning performance earned him a lot of praise, especially from his skipper Morgan, who said the pacer did an ‘unbelievable job’ to nick the win for England on the last ball.

Eoin Morgan hails Tom Curran for his match-winning death bowling against South Africa:

England’s marquee bowler Archer has been sidelined due to an injury, which is why Curran got the chance to play versus the Proteas. He became the match-winner for his side, and Morgan was delighted to see yet another player shouldering responsibility in the absence of their first-choice death bowler.

“Probably with two balls to go, it was South Africa’s game to lose, they were in an unbelievably commanding position. The ball that had been reverse swinging had been hit out of the ground and we were back with a normal ball so it was really tough work,” he said after the game.

Unbelievable job from Tom Curran: Eoin Morgan

Morgan further added, “I thought Tom Curran did an unbelievable job to get the wicket (of Pretorius). The more options we have for guys bowling at the death… variation in the big overs is completely invaluable.”

“We’ve got guys getting injured all the time, particularly fast bowlers, so I don’t think you can have enough guys in your squad of players to deliver that sort of skill. That creates good, healthy competition,” said the England captain in the end.

England will finish their tour of South Africa after the third T20I and will then go on to play a two-match Test series in Sri Lanka in March.

The reigning World Cup champions will then welcome the West Indies at home for a three-match Test series in June.