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Eoin Morgan reacts to England’s T20 series victory over South Africa


England captain Eoin Morgan was delighted to come away from South Africa with a T20 series win (Picture: Sky Sports)

Eoin Morgan said he never lost belief in his England side after they completed the second highest T20 run chase in their history to beat South Africa in Centurion and win a thrilling series.

The 33-year-old England captain led from the front with a 21-ball half century as the tourists bettered South Africa’s target of 223 to clinch a 2-1 series victory.

Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow also scored 50s to help get Chris Silverwood’s men over the line on Sunday.

Ali and Morgan got England over the line in Centurion (Picture: Getty)

Heinrich Klaasen was the hosts’ standout performer with the bat as he scored 66 runs from 33 balls, while Temba Bavuma starred at the top of the order with an impressive 49.

England appeared to have lost their momentum at the midway stage in their innings before Ben Stokes combined with Morgan to take back control with the bat.

Stokes’ dismissal in the penultimate over threatened to derail England but Morgan stepped up to smash his sixth and seventh maximums before Moeen Ali sealed the win with a four.

England completed the second highest T20 run chase in their history to win the series (Picture: Getty)

Morgan, who was named man of the match and man of the series, insisted he was always confident England could chase down South Africa’s daunting total.

‘Yeah it was a hell of a game. I think we’ve got to commend both sides today, the bowlers, it’s not the easiest ground to bowl on, particularly when the wicket is like that but our guys found it extremely hard work,’ he told Sky Sports after the match.

‘Quinny [De Kock] and Temba [Bavuma] came in and played beautifully, got them off to an absolute flyer and then we couldn’t really hold the momentum from there.

‘When any side posts 220 it’s obviously a tough ask but, going back to 2016 with the World Cup, this group of players chased down 230 against South Africa in Mumbai.

‘There’s always that belief at the halfway stage that if we get a partnership going we can be quite destructive. The guys up front – [Jason] Roy, Bairstow and Buttler – lay the platform for the middle guys to come in and take advantage of it.’

On his performance with the bat, Morgan added: ‘It’s extremely satisfying.

‘Any contribution that I make when we win a game of cricket, particularly when I’m there at the end, is extremely satisfying.

‘It’s a nice note to leave this tour on, leaving with silverware after having drawn the 50 over series but we have loved every minute of this tour.

‘Everybody in South Africa has been so hospitable, the cricket we’ve played has been so close so it’s definitely a hugely productive series for us.’

Buttler impressed with the bat (Picture: Getty)

On Buttler hitting back at critics with a convincing half century, Morgan said: ‘I realise why they talk about him so much but not in a negative way. I think he has as much talent as someone like AB de Villiers.

‘It took him a long time and a lot of games to actually get going in a South Africa shirt and we need to back guys with that sort of talent.

‘Jos has been around for a long time now and we know when he delivers we win games of cricket.

‘Today, in our eyes, he played brilliantly but it’s great to see him back with some runs.’

He added: ‘I think the priority at the moment is to get the top three facing as many balls as we can. They’re the most destructive players we have.

‘If that changes between now and the World Cup and we feel the need to fill a gap somewhere we might change it but for the moment it’s an extremely destructive batting lineup to play against.

‘We want to be that side that people don’t like playing against.’

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