I'm ecstatic, says Morgan
Eoin Morgan hit 67 to seal an England win
Friday, 19, Feb 2010 06:03
By Will Haine.
Eoin Morgan revealed his delight at seeing England to a seven wicket win against Pakistan with a beautifully paced half-century.
The Irishman joined Kevin Pietersen at the crease with England on 18-3, but they shared 112 runs to guide the team to their 130 run target with nine balls still remaining.
And Morgan admitted that it was tough going when he began his innings.
"It was a difficult wicket to get singles away and manipulate the field but, eventually when me and Kevin got in, we got going," he said.
"But we kept saying 'if we are here at the end, then we win the match' and, even though it was difficult at the time, we managed to get going and the boundaries came at the right time."
With England still needing 14 runs to win from the final two overs, Morgan hit two fours and a six from consecutive deliveries off the bowling of Umar Gul to seal the victory. And the thrill of hitting the winning runs was something that Morgan revelled in.
"I was ecstatic (to hit the winning runs). It's obviously good to get a win under our belts after a couple of days of hard work and it's great to see a result," added the 23-year-old.
England T20 Paul Collingwood was quick to lavish praise on Pietersen and Morgan, but also the team as a whole.
"Apart from the first five overs of our batting, it was a near perfect performance," he commented.
"KP, who is usually the aggressor, played a very composed innings. And Morgan at the end put his foot on the accelerator a little bit and has seen us home."