England captain Eoin Morgan heaped praise on his bowlers for setting up the touring side's comprehensive eight-wicket win over Team India in the five-match T20I series opener on Friday (March 12) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
The pace trio of Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, and Chris Jordan made Indian batsmen’s life difficult, as the hosts could manage only 124/7 in their 20 overs despite a fighting 67 off 48 balls from Shreyas Iyer.
Archer returned with his best T20I figures of 3/23 from his 4 overs while Wood and Jordan finished with the figures of 1/20 and 1/27 respectively in their quota of 4 overs to help England restrict India to just 124/7 in the first T20I in Ahmedabad on Friday.
Chasing the total, Jason Roy’s 49 powered England to a massive eight-wicket win over India with 27 balls to spare to take a 1-0 lead in the ongoing five-match series.
After England's massive win over India, Morgan said their plan was to rattle the hosts with express pace and was happy that his pacers executed the plans very well on Friday.
Morgan said in the post-match presentation: “That (to go with express pace) was certainly the intention. Jofra's strength is that he can bowl really fast among others but certainly Mark Wood's super strength is that he can bowl super fast. It is hard to do all the time but when he bowls like tonight it is very good entertainment, but also it's great to have him in your side.”
The skipper further added, “The wicket was as expected. The plans were very basic -- to bowl on a length and straight. Couldn't ask for more from the bowlers... He (Archer) is excellent. Like our batting unit, our bowling unit has competition for places.”
He also lauded Roy for his efforts with the bat against India. Morgan concluded, “There is a huge amount of competition within the side and it is a huge boost for anyone scoring runs. When Jason (Roy) scores runs and does well, it is a good sign.”
(With IANS Inputs)
