Cricket:England Twenty20 captain Paul Collingwood has described Eoin Morgan as a "special talent" after the Dubliner furthered his growing reputation in yesterday's one-wicket win over Australia in Adelaide.
While debutant Chris Woakes stole the limelight after holding his nerve to hit the winning run from the final ball, it was Morgan’s composed 43 from 33 balls that formed the foundation of the chase.
The left-hander had spent the majority of the tour down under cooling his heels on the sidelines — he had faced just 17 balls in two months — but there was little sign of rustiness.
Morgan kept his side well ahead of the required rate in the middle overs and while his failure to see England home could be perceived as a product of his recent inactivity, it proved valuable enough to set up victory despite a late-innings collapse.
“Morgs has been superb in Twenty20 and one-day cricket,” Collingwood said. “We probably keep leaving it up to him a bit too much if we are honest, but he showed his class again. He’s been waiting in the wings and is very patient but when it comes to this
form of the game he’s a special talent.”
Collingwood also reserved praise for the 21-year-old Woakes, who the skipper admitted he knew little about before his match-winning 19 not out from 15 balls. Woakes took little time to convince Collingwood and those inside the Adelaide Oval of his ability with the bat though, when he hooked a fearsome Shaun Tait short ball into the stands.
It was a memorable stroke against one of the fastest bowlers in the world and Collingwood was impressed.
“It was incredible,” he added. “Tait had given him some lip the ball before and he’s just said he was expecting it to be a bit short and he got it out the middle. It was a fantastic performance by him. To be honest I hadn’t seen much of his batting, (team director) Andy Flower said he was a serious batter.
“Graeme Swann was a bit disappointed he was ahead of him (in the batting order) but as soon as he hit that six off Tait, Swanny just doffed his cap at Andy and understood why he was behind him. He looks a serious batter as well, you can say he’s a true all-rounder.
“He thinks about the game as well and that’s crucial.”