England captain Eoin Morgan celebrates his 33rd birthday on Tuesday. Born on September 10, 1986, the Ireland-born player is the first and only England captain to lift the 50-over World Cup to date. The southpaw made his international debut for Ireland in 2006 and later moved to England. Morgan made his debut for England in June 2010 and didn’t take much time in cementing his spot in the side. The 33-year-old is known for his explosive hitting and has the ability to turn the tables around very quickly. The dasher is also the first batsman to score ODI centuries for two different nations. Eoin Morgan Admits Brendon McCullum’s Innings in 2015 Helped England Triumph in ICC CWC 2019.
Morgan took over the reins of ODI and T20I captaincy in 2014 when the regular skipper Alastair Cook was struggling and was sacked from the limited-overs side. The 2015 World Cup proved to be an absolute disaster for England as they got knocked out in the group stage. However, post the mega-event, the southpaw lead the team from the front and made England a formidable force in white-ball cricket. Eoin guided England to the 2016 World T20 final but failed to lift the cup. But three years later, Morgan redeemed himself by guiding England to it’s maiden 50-over World Cup. Talking about Eoin Morgan’s achievements, let’s look at five blistering knocks played the England southpaw in international cricket. England World Cup Winning Captain Eoin Morgan Plays Cricket With Afghan Family.
103* Against Australia in Southampton
The Irish southpaw played an exceptional innings in the fifth ODI of Australia’s 2010 Tour of England. Chasing a total of 267, the English top order were rattled by the Australian pace attack. However, Morgan came to bat at number five and tried to stitch a partnership with the lower-order batsmen. After showing resilience in the early overs, the batsman went all-guns-blazing in the final overs and notched a brilliant century and guided England to a victory by four wickets.
85* Against South Africa in Johannesburg
The left-handed batsman again proved his mettle in the first T20I of England’s 2010 Tour of South Africa. The batsman smashed bowlers like Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel to all the parts of the ground and scored a brilliant half-century. Courtesy Morgan’s blinder, England piled up a mammoth score of 202 in the first innings which proved to be just enough in front of the Proteas as England clinched the match by one run via Duckworth Lewis method.
124* Against Ireland in Dublin
The one-off ODI between England and Ireland in 2013 was very emotional for the England Skipper as he was playing against his former team. However, he didn’t let his emotions get better of him and played a gem of an innings. England’s top order got tumbled while chasing 270 but Captain Morgan brought the innings back to the track and scored a memorable ton. The southpaw’s brilliant innings guided England to a six-wickets victory.
130 Against Pakistan in Nottingham
Known for his blitz in the limited-overs format, Morgan has also played some brilliant innings in the white jersey as well. In the first Test of Pakistan’s 2010 Tour of England, the southpaw showed great temperament in front of the star-studded Pakistan bowling line-up and brought up his first century in the longest format of the game. Morgan’s century proved to be valiant as England piled up 354 runs in the first innings and also won the match by the same margin.
148 Against Afghanistan in Manchester
The England skipper played a jaw-dropping and arguably his best innings in ODI against Afghanistan in the 2019 World Cup. Coming to bat at number 4, Morgan took the bowlers from the ball one and played a breath-taking inning. The skipper hit 17 sixes in the match, which is a world record and also registered his highest ODI score. Morgan guided England to 397 runs in the first innings and later, the hosts won the match by 150 runs.
The ODI skipper of England is not the part of ongoing Ashes 2019 and is currently playing for Middlesex in the Vitality T20 Blast 2019. England’s next limited-overs assignment will be in November when they will tour New Zealand for a five-match T20I series. After bagging the 2019 World Cup title, Morgan will eye the ICC World T20 which is scheduled to be held next year in Australia.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 10, 2019 09:00 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).