Eoin Morgan always felt England were capable of producing a batting performance like the one that left South Africa shell-shocked in the ICC World Twenty20.
England responded to Wednesday’s defeat to West Indies by producing the second-highest run-chase in Twenty20 international history to defeat the Proteas.
Joe Root led the way, hitting 83 from 44 balls to help overhaul South Africa’s 229 for four with two wickets and two balls unused at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
England’s limited-overs batting approach underwent a major overhaul following last year’s 50-over World Cup group-stage exit and Morgan believes today’s display proves how far they have come.
“Honestly, I felt we would have felt to play out of our skin to chase them,” Morgan said.
“But there’s a lot of talent in our team if we play with freedom.
“It’s been going for just under a year now and we’ve had some big chases.
“We’ll take a lot of confidence. We took some positives from the game the other night. We came a little unstuck against Chris Gayle, which you can do, but I think we did a lot of things right.”
England needed a lightning start in their chase and Alex Hales and Jason Roy duly responded with a brutal display of hitting.
Roy cracked a 16-ball 43 and Hales contributed 17, the pair sharing England’s fastest 50-run stand in 2.5 overs.
Like match-winner Root, Morgan was full of praise for the pair.
“To get a start like that, Jason Roy and Alex Hales were outstanding,” he said.
Unbelievable Jeff
— Eoin Morgan (@Eoin16) March 18, 2016
Source: ECB