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Hussey on Morgan: Some of the best hitting I’ve seen
England 397 for 6 (Morgan 148, Bairstow 90, Naib 3-68) beat Afghanistan 247 for 8 (Shahidi 76, Archer 3-52) by 150 runs
That England decimated another attack, posted a massive total and batted their opponents out of the game is only surprising to someone who hasn’t followed Eoin Morgan‘s side over the past four years. But even for avid enthusiasts of the 50-over game, the brutality of Tuesday’s assault, led by the England captain himself, was so gruesome one might have been forgiven for wanting to look away by the end of the first innings. England blitzed their way to 397, 198 scored in the final 15, 148 smashed by Morgan in 16 overs he was at the crease. Afghanistan were reduced to batting out the overs, which, admirably though they did so, still meant they came up short by 150 runs in the end.
Watch on Hotstar (India only) – Morgan’s record-breaking innings
The records tumbled off the page far easier than they rolled off the tongue: most sixes by an ODI player for Morgan (17) – most sixes by an ODI team (25), highest score for England at a World Cup (397), most expensive bowling figures at a World Cup for Rashid Khan (9-0-110-0) and the most sixes conceded by an individual bowler (Rashid Khan with 11). Morgan took the attack to Afghanistan almost as soon as he walked in to bat; the platform had been set in the first 30 overs by Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root, and the only thing they lacked was the impetus required to push a 300-score into something far more daunting.
Fair to say that was achieved, then. With Morgan hitting just about every fourth ball of his innings for six – 17 were deposited over the rope in 71 balls – Afghanistan were up against a man who had prepared for an innings like this by nursing for four years. Rashid Khan, who Gulbadin Naib had held back for this stage of the innings, had the heaviest punishment inflicted upon him, seeing the ball fly to the fence no fewer than 11 times. He conceded 74 in his last four overs, and 110 overall, with Afghanistan paying the price of failing to take early wickets. With the Morgan given the freedom of Old Trafford in the final 20, carnage was always possible.
Prior to the bloodbath, however, England had been curiously sedate, as if wary of finding themselves turned over on a day they couldn’t quite field their best eleven. Jason Roy had been ruled out with a hamstring injury, and (ridiculous as it sounds now) Morgan’s availability wasn’t quite a guarantee, still not fully recovered from the back injury that had kept him from batting against West Indies.
The first Powerplay saw England score 46 runs – the lowest since the 2015 World Cup – with Mujeeb ur Rehman keeping things tight at one end and Dawlat Zadran removing James Vince after the batsman had played a characteristically charming cameo.
Fulll report to follow
Danyal Rasool is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @Danny61000
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo