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An Irish cricket fan had a message for the ICC yesterday. INPHO/Morgan Treacy
That's Not Cricket

Match-winner Morgan revels in century over home country

The England skipper inspired his side to a win in Malahide against his home country.

ENGLAND CAPTAIN Eoin Morgan expressed his delight after he produced a match-winning innings against Ireland yesterday.

Morgan scored an unbeaten 124, putting on a one-day international record fifth-wicket stand with Ravi Bopara (101 not out), as England successfully chased a target of 270, finishing on 274-4 after falling to 48-4 earlier in the innings.

England face Australia in the first game of a five-match series at Headingley on Friday and Morgan believes that his spectacular innings was ideal preparation for the battle with Michael Clarke’s men.

“I was able to calm things down a bit when I got in,” the Irish-born Morgan said on his home turf in Malahide. “The wicket was, as expected, quite tough and quite challenging.

“It’s been magnificent to get some runs under my belt and contribute to an England win.

“Time in the middle is crucial ahead of a big series.”

Morgan and Bopara played aggressively as they fought back following an early flurry of wickets.

The pair hit 27 boundaries – including nine sixes – between them in the innings, and Bopara was pleased to have produced a big score to help the team recover from a perilous position.

“When you’re in a hole, you might have to take a couple of risks to put the fielders back and put a little bit of pressure on the bowlers,” Bopara explained.

“It’s been really good, I’ve just tried keeping it simple, I’m very hungry for runs.”

Captain William Porterfield was the key man for Ireland, the opener scoring 112 as the hosts reached 269-7 in their innings.

Porterfield was satisfied with his performance, but admitted that he was disappointed that his side were not able to press home from the advantage from a position of strength.

“It was nice to get a hundred, coming to play against England and pull on that Ireland jersey is always a bit special,” Porterfield said.

“We were pretty confident, we fancied our chances, we’re disappointed to not be able to build a period of sustained pressure.”

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