ICC T20 WORLD CUP 2021

November 10, 2021

Eoin Morgan

Sheikh Zayed Stadium

England

Semi Final Post Match Media Conference

New Zealand 167/5, England 166/4

Q. England bowled very well in the first part of the powerplay, but thereafter things were not going your way. What do you think was the turning point of the game?

EOIN MORGAN: Here I think it was a very closely fought game right throughout. I thought Jimmy Neesham was probably the only guy that came out and was showing the ability to strike the ball cleanly from ball one. I think when you look at particularly our innings, our hitting ability within our squad is quite strong, and the indication that the guys didn't feel like they could clear the ropes due to the nature of the pitch was a good indication that it wasn't coming on to the bat that well. I think that continued throughout the Black Caps' innings until he came to the crease.

Q. Do you miss fifth bowler? Do you think this is a good part that you brought fifth bowler?

EOIN MORGAN: Yeah, I think it's our best balance of the team. I think given how we've played throughout the tournament and the method that we've used, at the moment we have 24 overs of bowling on the field, it's worked extremely well throughout the course of the tournament. We felt an extra bowler with that sort of clarity, we'd need it with our batting.

Q. Can you just talk us through your emotions really after such an epic semifinal?

EOIN MORGAN: Yeah, we're devastated. To be on the wrong side of a close game is not easy to take. I thought we fought unbelievably well today on a wicket that didn't necessarily suit our batting, but we managed to post in and around a par score. We were brilliant with the ball.

We were right in the game probably until Jimmy Neesham came to the wicket, if not ahead of the game. I think throughout those innings everybody struggled to clear the ropes on both sides, and I think that was just the nature of the pitch.

So yeah, you have to take your hat off to him. He played really well.

Q. Did you feel at the halfway stage that actually -- you say it was a par score. Did you feel quite confident at that stage?

EOIN MORGAN: I wouldn't say confident. Sort of the method that New Zealand have used is obviously come hard in the powerplay, steady the ship throughout the middle and then come hard again at the end. When you take two big wickets as early as we did, you feel ahead of the game. They were trying to, I suppose, steady the ship, and I think we managed to keep them at bay for quite some time, so they did well again to wrestle back momentum and then just obviously put them in a commanding position.

Q. How do you reflect on the way you managed your bowlers when you used them? You obviously front loaded quite abit, left Liam quite a lot to do and he did well, but it still didn't work out?

EOIN MORGAN: Yeah, I'm quite happy with it. We threw everything at them, and Liam was brilliant. Yeah, I wouldn't change anything. Everything worked right up until the point that Neesham came in. It's a fantastic cameo in, I suppose, high-pressure circumstances when his team needed it.

Q. When you look at that 17th over I think it was from Chris Jordan, do you just see that as unbelievable batting rather than any bowler error necessarily?

EOIN MORGAN: Yeah, I think bowling to the short side is never easy. We've played against Jimmy a lot. He's not struck the ball like that against us ever. It's really good batting.

Q. Given kind of the history between these two teams, some great white ball games over the years, can you afford to think, yeah, fair play, guys, you've been on the end of a couple of tough ones and now we are?

EOIN MORGAN: I think it's always -- the competitive nature in which we play the Black Caps is always healthy. There's a huge amount of respect between both sides because we know every time we play them, we're going to be up against it. They don't give you a lot of leeway. They're very disciplined, and if you do win against them, you know you've played really well.

Q. Just on the dew, when did it set in, and how big an impact did it have at the back end?

EOIN MORGAN: Yeah, I don't think it was a huge impact. Maybe a little bit. But the Black Caps have still outplayed us. We know the dew is around. We were still right in the game. I don't think it was a major factor, maybe an advantage slightly but not a major factor.

Q. Could you talk a little, maybe expand a little bit more on what you were saying about this being a pitch that suited your batting?

EOIN MORGAN: Yeah, of course we like pitches where you can free yourselves up and get after the opposition. Today we didn't feel as if we could do that, both the pitch being a little bit slower but also full credit to the Black Caps. They were very disciplined in the lines and lengths that they bowled, the use of slower balls, and their spinners bowled well. Yeah.

Q. Not sure if you played with Daryl Mitchell at Middlesex, but what did you make of his knock today?

EOIN MORGAN: Yeah, he played really well. I haven't played with him. I was there in the crossovers and the changing room when he arrived. He's a lovely guy who has developed a little later than most international cricketers, I'd say, so he's played a hell of a hand today. He's played really well against the No. 1 side in the world and taken his side right to the final. Yeah, well played.

Q. I just wanted to ask how impressed have you been with Liam Livingstone's bowling because it was his batting that was talked about before the tournament started, and is it fair to say that his bowling has really come through the ranks in this tournament?

EOIN MORGAN: Liam takes a new ball for Lancashire. He makes a huge impact with them, obviously with a hundred. Playing for the Birmingham Phoenix he does a very similar role. People call him a power time. He's not, he's an allrounder. We trust his bowling a lot.

Q. Just at the end of the day how much do you think the Roy and Mills injuries is costing you in this World Cup?

EOIN MORGAN: I don't think you can put a measure on missing a player. I think the 11 guys that took the field today gave absolutely everything. I'm extremely proud of the performance that they put in. When you play really well, it doesn't always guarantee that you win games. Unfortunately we found ourselves on the wrong side of a really tight game today.

Q. You mentioned about the pitch being slow, and when it's the case it's ideal to maximise the powerplay, but England had a competitively slow start with 13 runs coming in the first three overs. Was there a conscious plan to negate the swing early on and then unleash, or was it completely circumstantial and the Kiwi bowlers were on the money straight away?

EOIN MORGAN: Yeah, completely circumstantial. Obviously naturally we played quite an aggressive game. They managed to swing the ball for the first three overs like we did. Conditions were the same. We pretty much batted on the same wicket. Yeah, full credit to them for pegging us back for the first three.