ICC World Cup 2019 | Batting first would have been a horrific decision, says Eoin Morgan

The English Cricket Team's hopes of making the semi-final were jeopardized yesterday, as they slumped to their second consecutive defeat of the tournament, failing to chase down 286 against archrivals Australia. Ben Stokes' valiant 89 went in vain as England were bowled out for 221, with Mitchell Starc and Jason Behrendorff picking nine off the 10 English wickets. 

When England won the toss, there was little doubt in Eoin Morgan's mind to bowl first in conditions that were fairly overcast, with the pitch promising to offer some early assistance to the pacers. However, things didn't go as planned as England failed to pick a wicket in the first 22 overs. However, when questioned about his decision, skipper Morgan insisted that he made the right call after the toss by electing to bowl first.

"The wicket was soft when we started, batting would have been a horrific decision. They dominated until the 25th but to restrict them to 280 was a good effort," said Morgan in the post-match presentation, reported Cricinfo. 

Morgan was also quick to admit the fact that Australia outplayed England in many aspects yesterday. He stated that England dug their own grave by losing three early wickets. "I thought a lot of today we were outplayed, Australia played and missed a lot and built a good partnership, and us losing early wickets wasn't ideal. But to be 20 for 3 pegs us bad considerably," added Morgan.

Despite two consecutive defeats, Morgan sounded fairly confident about England's chances going forward, as they had their fate in their own hands, having to win their next two matches to seal a place in the semi-final. "Given the circumstances, it's not hugely disappointed, our fate is in our own hands. Everything we need to turn around is quite simple, the basics have let us down, and hopefully, we will improve on them moving forward.," said Morgan. 

England will now travel to Birmingham, where they take on the Indian Cricket Team at Edgbaston on June 30.