adminWELLINGTON. — England team will hope to shrug off a disappointing start to their Cricket World Cup campaign with a confidence-boosting win against dark-horses New Zealand in Wellington today. A morale-sapping 111-run drubbing against title-favourites Australia in Melbourne left England seeking a big improvement against co-hosts New Zealand, who already have two wins under their belt. But England captain Eoin Morgan insisted his side had not been scarred by their crushing loss to arch-rivals Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
“We’re expected to win games of cricket after getting off to not an ideal start,” Morgan said Wednesday.
“The guys are really disappointed, but we’ve dusted ourselves down and we look ahead to Friday’s game.”
England will want more from their batsmen against the Black Caps, with Morgan himself desperately short of runs, after making just two runs in his last five innings – including four ducks.
“I believe it will work and when it does, hopefully, I can cash in on it and, hopefully, make it either a match-winning performance or build on somebody else’s performance,” said former Ireland batsman Morgan.
England also have to guard against batting slumps, having been bowled out 12 times in their last 18 matches and averaging, by modern standards, a relatively modest 58.80 in the final 10 overs. — AFP.
Online Reporter