‘The two finalists deserved it’ – Eoin Morgan
England were “good enough” to win the final league match of the triangular Twenty20 International series against New Zealand, but “not good enough” to make it to the final, rued Eoin Morgan, the England captain, after winning their first and only game of the tournament on Sunday (18 February).
To seal a berth in the final to take on Australia, England needed to beat New Zealand by a margin of at least 20 runs but only managed to win by two runs as they scored 194/7 and New Zealand ended their 20 overs on 192/4.
Morgan, England’s top scorer with a 46-ball 80, said afterwards, “174 was the target we were trying to defend. We just sort of created chances at certain stages but given the start that they got off to, with Colin Munro (57 in 21 balls) and Martin Guptill (62 in 47 balls), that sort of form when somebody is hitting you all around, it gets difficult for the attack.
“I thought we fought really well, and so the story of this trip is we played our best game today, good enough to win the game but not good enough to go through the final.”
England had lost their first three games in the series, two to Australia and one to New Zealand, before getting among the points in their last game. “We just haven't been good enough throughout this T20 campaign, been slow through the start and slow enough to not go through to the finals, and I think the two finalists deserved it,” said Morgan.
Kane Williamson, the New Zealand captain, said his side will take the positives from the game into the final and also lauded England's efforts, especially the performance of Morgan and Dawid Malan, who contributed a 36-ball 53.
“We wanted to win. England played very well today and it was a good game of cricket. But the spirits are high in the camp and the guys are looking forward to the final,” said Williamson. “There were a few moments there, the way their left-handers played against the ball turning into the bat. Morgan was pretty outstanding and they got a very good total on the board.”
When New Zealand chased, Munro and Guptill had an opening stand that produced 78 runs off just 39 balls, and Mark Chapman's unbeaten 30-ball 37 towards the end also helped.
“I think a lot of credit to the way our guys fought with the bat. Because England did bowl well in the middle stages, and someone like Martin, who played so well through that middle period, and Colin at the top was brilliant. A very mature knock from Chapman, to get us so close, only one hit away,” said Williamson. “I think spin on that surface was probably a bigger challenge, using the change of pace from the seamers as well.”
New Zealand will face Australia in the final on 21 February at Eden Park, where the visiting side made history with a record win in their previous fixture.
Williamson felt the pitch would once again produce a lot of runs, saying, “Yes, same pitch, which may be a little more tired than the last game but no doubt it will be a good surface. Small boundaries, good pitch, I'm sure there'll be plenty of runs.”