Cricket - England v India - Third International T20 - The Brightside Ground, Bristol, Britain - July 8, 2018   India's Hardik Pandya and Rohit Sharma celebrate victory    Action Images via Reuters/Ed Sykes
India's Hardik Pandya and Rohit Sharma celebrate victory over England to secure the T20 series 2-1. Reuters

Eoin Morgan says England will need to play 'close to' perfect against India in ODI series



Eoin Morgan's England need improvement against India in this week's one-day international series after the tourists wrapped up the Twenty20 International series with a seven-wicket win in Bristol.

The hosts' 198-9 on Sunday was their third-highest T20 international total on home soil.

But on an excellent pitch, and small playing area, it proved inadequate as Rohit Sharma's unbeaten century eased India to a 2-1 series success after a third-wicket stand of 89 with his captain Virat Kohli.

Jason Roy (67) and Jos Buttler appeared to have put England on course to easily top 200 - but after their opening partnership of 94 in under eight overs, momentum was lost, and there was no grand finish either.

A manic conclusion to the innings in fact saw five wickets fall in 15 balls, albeit for 21 runs, as Hardik Pandya finished with a career-best 4-38.

Morgan said: "Those 20 or 30 runs we missed out on, in the back-end of our innings, cost us.

"We did a lot of things right today - particularly that platform set.

"Jason and Jos were brilliant up front, and almost gave us a licence to allow ourselves to think about 220.

"But the execution of our shots didn't really match up with getting to that total.

"On a good wicket, small ground, we should be better than that."

_______________

'Difficult' to drop Alex Hales admits England captain Eoin Morgan

_______________

The tourists were therefore always favourites in the chase, and completed it with eight balls to spare.

"India never really got away from us, but we struggled to take wickets," added Morgan. "They kept up with the rate, and then it was a position in the 16th or 17th over they could take the game away from us - which is disappointing."

The Irishman does not believe England have to play perfectly to beat India in white-ball cricket - just very, very well.

"I'd say close to," he said. "I don't think we have to play a completely perfect game every time [to beat them] - we proved that at Cardiff. But certainly today they had their day.

"India were probably on top of their game today, and we weren't - and we were just short."

Morgan and acting coach Paul Farbrace had a difficult call to make before a ball was bowled, to accommodate the return of fit-again all-rounder Ben Stokes - and in the end it was Test captain Joe Root who was dropped.

Asked if the conversation with Root is among the toughest he has had as captain, Morgan said: "Yes. Dropping Joe is not an easy decision.

"Trying to win the game on this particular ground, it actually came down to Ben's bowling option.

"If we had Joe as a sixth bowler - which we needed today - an extra spinner against India didn't really match up that well."

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
If you go

The flights Etihad (www.etihad.com) and Spice Jet (www.spicejet.com) fly direct from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Pune respectively from Dh1,000 return including taxes. Pune airport is 90 minutes away by road. 

The hotels A stay at Atmantan Wellness Resort (www.atmantan.com) costs from Rs24,000 (Dh1,235) per night, including taxes, consultations, meals and a treatment package.
 

A QUIET PLACE

Starring: Lupita Nyong'o, Joseph Quinn, Djimon Hounsou

Director: Michael Sarnoski

Rating: 4/5

Squads

India (for first three ODIs) Kohli (capt), Rohit, Rahul, Pandey, Jadhav, Rahane, Dhoni, Pandya, Axar, Kuldeep, Chahal, Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar, Umesh, Shami.

Australia Smith (capt), Warner, Agar, Cartwright, Coulter-Nile, Cummins, Faulkner, Finch, Head, Maxwell, Richardson, Stoinis, Wade, Zampa.

Company profile

Company name: Fasset
Started: 2019
Founders: Mohammad Raafi Hossain, Daniel Ahmed
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $2.45 million
Current number of staff: 86
Investment stage: Pre-series B
Investors: Investcorp, Liberty City Ventures, Fatima Gobi Ventures, Primal Capital, Wealthwell Ventures, FHS Capital, VN2 Capital, local family offices

UAE athletes heading to Paris 2024

Equestrian
Abdullah Humaid Al Muhairi, Abdullah Al Marri, Omar Al Marzooqi, Salem Al Suwaidi, and Ali Al Karbi (four to be selected).
Judo
Men: Narmandakh Bayanmunkh (66kg), Nugzari Tatalashvili (81kg), Aram Grigorian (90kg), Dzhafar Kostoev (100kg), Magomedomar Magomedomarov (+100kg); women's Khorloodoi Bishrelt (52kg).

Cycling
Safia Al Sayegh (women's road race).

Swimming
Men: Yousef Rashid Al Matroushi (100m freestyle); women: Maha Abdullah Al Shehi (200m freestyle).

Athletics
Maryam Mohammed Al Farsi (women's 100 metres).


Abtal

Keep up with all the Middle East and North Africa athletes at the 2024 Paris Olympics

      By signing up, I agree to The National's privacy policy
      Abtal