Joe Root: England behind Eoin Morgan and he will perform when pressure is on

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/feb/11/joe-root-england-eoin-morgan-world-cup-pakistan

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Eoin Morgan failed again with the bat at the Sydney Cricket Ground as England lost to Pakistan by four wickets in their final World Cup warm-up match before facing Australia in Melbourne on Saturday.

Joe Root, however, still insists that the England team are right behind him and there is a belief that Morgan will perform when the pressure is on.

The England captain made a third-ball duck, his third duck in four innings, this time falling in the sort of bizarre fashion that seems to happen to those most in need of luck.

“It is not really a concern,” Root said. “He is a fine player and leader. One thing he always does is perform when the pressure is on. He will score a lot of runs and everyone is convinced that will be the case. He is the one we turn to when the chips are down.”

Morgan somehow managed to send an attempted leg-side paddle off a full toss straight to slip instead and it means that six of his last seven innings have brought scores of 5, 0, 4, 0, 2, 0 and 0, a sequence broken only by the 121 he made against Australia in Sydney in the recent Tri-Series.

Root had top-scored for England against Pakistan, making 85 out of 250 for eight, and there was a half-century for Gary Ballance, who was playing his first game since breaking a finger last month. It means that Root has secured the No4 batting place and is coming to terms with the various skills demanded of it. “I have played at four for a while now,” he said, “and it is about finding a way and adapting to different situations. It is great that Gary is back, too. It is not easy to come back and perform from the first ball as he did. Now we are fed up with waiting and just want to get cracking.”

England were undone by some excellent controlled Pakistan bowling from spin and seam alike and a defining partnership between the captain, Misbah-ul-Haq, and Umar Akmal that produced 133 for the fifth wicket, rescuing Pakistan from 78 for four and taking them to the verge of victory. Misbah, experiencing captaincy fortunes at the other end of the scale, finished unbeaten on 91 as Pakistan ended the game with seven deliveries in hand.