Classic Morgan powers England with super ton

Chasing 268 for a victory, England were in a spot of bother at 97/4 but an unbeaten century from Morgan sealed a comprehensive win, taking a 1-0 series lead

Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting elected to bat on a good track and the openers came hard on the bowlers, adding 52 for the first wicket as Australia scored 58/1 in the Quick Start Overs, followed by 16/1 in the Bowling Powerplay. England kept chipping away at the wickets as the Aussies were reduced to 98/4 in the 22nd over. But crucial partnerships in the middle order revived them, as Michael Clarke added 70 with Michael Hussey for the fifth wicket followed by another 57 with James Hopes for the sixth wicket. However, there was not enough acceleration as OZ scored just 78/2 in the Extreme Performance Overs, of which, only 40/1 came in the Batting Powerplay. Michael Clarke anchored the innings, scoring a patient 87 from 97 balls, with 7 fours, finishing with a Batting Momentum of 113 but he was not his fluent self. For England, James Anderson was the best bowler, with 2/43 in 9 overs, earning a Bowling Efficiency of 126.

England skipper Andrew Strauss was not too perturbed at the toss and reckoned that the pitch would stay good for the entire game and the English openers came out whacking the ball to all parts but lost Strauss early. Kevin Pietersen and Craig Kieswetter added 59 for the second wicket but Pietersen’s wicket brought about a flurry of wickets, reducing England to 97/4 in the 20th over. But calm and cool Eoin Morgan, played a similar innings to that of Clarke, though much quicker, as he too, shared two useful partnerships - 95 in 89 balls with Luke Wright for the fifth wicket followed by 91 in 65 balls with Tim Bresnan for the sixth wicket. Morgan stayed unbeaten till the end, finishing on 103 from 85 balls, studded with 16 fours, ending with a Batting Momentum of 166. Ryan Harris tried his level best, finishing with 3/42 in 9 overs, with a Bowling Efficiency of 193.

Both teams played similar cricket, with England edging out Australia in the Castrol Index of 164-154. Australia did well in the second Power Play but overall, England were much better in their Batting Momentum and Bowling Efficiency. EOIN MORGAN was named the MAN-OF-THE-MATCH for his match-winning 103, finishing with an overall Castrol Index of 222. The second game of the 5-match ODI series is at Cardiff, on Thursday, the 24th of June, 2010 at 1330 GMT.