CT 2017: Eoin Morgan showers praise on 'influential' Ben Stokes

Team England look like the firm favorites to win the ICC Champions Trophy 2017. They will be the only unbeaten side in the semi-finals of the tournament. The Eoin Morgan led team romped home to their third win of the tournament when they beat Australia in their most recent clash. Needless to say, they are riding sky high on their confidence level.

Speaking about the game in the post-match press conference, the English skipper spoke at length about what the win meant to them. He also hailed the superhero of the game – all-rounder Ben Stokes. Stokes hit an unbeaten century to see England in firm command when the rain gods interfered. Eoin Morgan had shared a 159 run stand with him in the match.

“His potential is through the roof. I think he bowled four overs in his first spell and then to go back to him at the end with two of the hardest overs to bowl [overs 48 and 50] sums him up. He took it on his shoulders. He did it at the IPL. And then his batting was exceptional. Very calm at the crease, very relaxed. All those games he’s played really came to the fore today. He was outstanding,” said Eoin Morgan as per the quotes in Cricbuzz.

He further added that Stokes is someone who always influences the game in whatever way possible. He is very happy with the way the English all-rounder has been constantly performing in the recent times.

“The IPL auction proved that every team would want him,” said Morgan about Stokes’ Rs. 14.2 crore price tag during the recent IPL Auction. “He’s always looking to influence the game: with the bat, ball, or even in the field.

“He’s always looking to influence the game – bat, ball or even in the field. Even in the field today at mid-on, he saved a lot of runs. He went through a period today of about five overs where he was unbelievable. He always wants to be in the game. A lot of guys with potential like that, when things aren’t going your way, back into a corner but that’s not Ben,” said Morgan.

On taking on the Aussie bowling

In the run chase, the Australia bowling lineup did really well to dismantle the English top order. It was the counter attack from Eoin Morgan and Ben Stokes that brought the hosts back in the game. Morgan noted that they knew the only way to take on the opposition was to attack them. Even the opposition skipper Steve Smith had lauded the efforts of the two batsmen.

“It was important to get some sort of a partnership going and how we were going to negate Australia’s bowling. They bowled really well up front. They asked a lot of questions and then got the ball moving. We felt that the positive way was the best way. And we spoke [during the break] about how we were going to go about it a little bit differently but it managed to work. We did it in our own way,” quoted Eoin Morgan.

On team morale

Lastly, he conceded that the team is at a happy place at the moment. The way they have toppled the opposition in the last two matches need some credit. He believes that beating the top side like Australia sets up things perfectly for England in the lead up to the semi-finals.

“The last two games, we’ve proved that we can peg sides back regardless of where they’re at going into the last 15 overs of the game, which probably three, two years ago were a bit of a car crash for us. So that’s a huge improvement. I said before that beating a side like Australia in a game where we’ve nothing to gain is a big step forward for us because we beat one of the better sides around the world. If we’re being serious about competing in future tournaments, we need to win games of cricket like this,” conceded Morgan.