T20 World Cup 2021 | England wouldn’t be favourites in the semi final against New Zealand, says Eoin Morgan
England skipper Eoin Morgan has said that his team won’t start as a favourite in the semi final against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday. Both teams won four out of five games they played in the Super 12 round in their respective groups and will be looking to book a place in the final.
England dominated in four out of five games against West Indies, Bangladesh, Australia and Sri Lanka. They bowled out the Kieron Pollard-led team on a paltry total of 55 runs and chased down the target in just 8.2 overs and then against Bangladesh, they chased down 126 runs in 14.2 overs. In the game against their arch-rivals Australia, they chased down as many runs in just 11.4 overs.
However, for a change, they had to bat first against Sri Lanka as they lost the toss but they posted 163/4 on a slow wicket of Sharjah, thanks to Jos Buttler (101*). The Eoin Morgan-led side restricted the Dasun Shanaka-led side to 137 all-out but they lost to South Africa by 10 runs in their last game. Meanwhile, Morgan said that the team thinks about creating a depth of players.
"It is a really good compliment for the changing room to all of the players more so to the head coach and support staff who have created an environment where all the players come in and they thrive in it. We have always thought about having great depth within our squad and as a whole, there have been some instances where we have to put out replacement teams but I think in doing so, you can have 30-40 players in domestic setup who can play international cricket but if the right environment is not there, it does not matter which eleven you pick, they would not be able to perform," said Morgan while replying to an ANI query during a virtual pre-match press conference.
When asked whether England is favourites for the semi-final, Morgan said: "I would not say strong favourites. New Zealand has a full-strength squad. Our guys are extremely excited about the challenge of facing New Zealand. We need to play good cricket to beat them."
The 35-year-old added that the Kane Williamson-led team is an extremely competitive team in the semi-finals.
"We cannot wait, it is a big achievement that we came out of our group and topping the table in the way we did, now it is all about producing the best game. We know how good and consistent New Zealand has been. They have always been extremely competitive, they are always around the semi-finals," the 35-year-old added.
The 2019 ODI World Cup winner also spoke about the injured Jason Roy stating that Roy’s experience can’t be replaced in the team.
"I think losing any of the experienced players, you cannot really replace the experience Jason has. He has played a big role in our previous two World Cups. I think of all the good things we have done well in this tournament, the strongest point has been the resilience within our squad to be able to find a way to move forward," said Morgan.
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