IND vs ENG 2018: We Played Kuldeep Yadav Well, Says Eoin Morgan

England bounced back in style from the heavy defeat in the series-opener to beat India in the second game and keep the series alive.

It, however, was not a promising batting display by the hosts which made skipper Eoin Morgan concede that England’s batting line-up has a long way to go to mimic the effectiveness those same players have in the ODI format. In the first game, England had got a flying start. Jason Roy and Jos Buttler had added 50 runs in just 5 overs. However, the middle-order had faltered and England were restricted to 159 for 8.

The middle-order failed to impress once again on Friday. Chasing a modest 149, England kept on losing wickets at regular intervals. But fortunately for them, Alex Hales remained till the end, scoring an unbeaten fifty to take them home.

Speaking after the game, Morgan said that England’s T20I batting lineup is yet not decided.

“We’re two years out from a World T20, we haven’t devised what our best top six is yet,” admitted Morgan. “We’ve been very flexible or as flexible as we can bar the opening partnership in the last three games. The majority of our top six want to open the batting. But it’s about finding the best combination for the team in order to win the World T20 in 2020, or at least come close to compete.”

Morgan further heaped praise on Hales for his unbeaten knock of 58.

“He really did play brilliantly,” Morgan said of Hales’ knock. “He’s played a lot of T20 International cricket. And he’s obviously played a lot around the world – and he certainly used that tonight.

“Having the composure to play quite a mature innings, as he did. He’s not known as a big hitter. But anybody who watched the game at Trent Bridge will realise he hits the ball quite a long way – even yorkers. We had quite a lot of confidence in him, but it is very nice to get over the line,” added Morgan.

He also reserved praise for the way England’s batsmen played Kuldeep Yadav. At the same time, he admitted that conditions this time were not quite as welcoming for the left-arm wrist spinner. Kuldeep had blown away England in Manchester by taking 5 for 24. However, in the second game , he went wicketless for 34 runs in Cardiff.

“Conditions were different. He’s a very good bowler and he’ll bowl well the majority of the time. But I thought conditions at Old Trafford suited him more than conditions today. I thought with the pace and bounce of the wicket that the seamers might have dominated a bit more. But I thought our plans were a lot clearer. We played him well,” said Morgan.

The three-match series will now be decided on Sunday when both the teams lock horns in Bristol.