England captain Eoin Morgan admits batting collapse was costly in defeat by West Indies: 'I think that's the area of the game that we need to look at'

  • West Indies beat England by 21 runs in the one-off T20 international in Durham 
  • Tourists had set the hosts 177 to win after finishing on 176 for nine on Saturday
  • Jason Roy was out first ball in reply as Alex Hales hit 43 from just 17 balls 
  • Eoin Morgan admitted his side lost because they failed to build on a good start

England captain Eoin Morgan admitted his side lost the one-off Twenty20 against West Indies at Chester-le-Street because they failed to build on a good start.

Despite losing opener Jason Roy first ball England put on 63 runs for the second wicket before Alex Hales, who top scored for the home side with 43, was bowled by West Indies captain Carlos Brathwaite.

Chasing the visitors' 176 for nine England were all out for 155 with three balls remaining.

England captain Eoin Morgan admitted his side lost  because they failed to build on a good start

England captain Eoin Morgan admitted his side lost because they failed to build on a good start

England's response got off to the worst possible start as Jason Roy was caught first ball

England's response got off to the worst possible start as Jason Roy was caught first ball

Morgan told Sky Sports Cricket: 'We didn't bowl that well but we certainly didn't lose the game (in the early overs of the West Indies innings) because we were certainly happy chasing what we did.


'The losing of the game was was probably when we lost three wickets (Hales, Joe Root, and Morgan) in that period.

'Jos (Buttler) rebuilt really well and potentially put us in a position where we could have kicked on but we continued to lose wickets. I think that's the area of the game that we need to look at.'

Morgan was dismissed for two and admitted his poor batting form was something he was looking at.

He said: 'I think my form's always a concern. It's something I'm becoming more relaxed about as I get older.'

Brathwaite praised his players for sticking to their task as they looked despondent during the early overs of England's reply when they were asked by the umpires if they wanted to carry on because rain had made the playing conditions difficult.

Alex Hales top-scored for England with 43 from 17 balls but could not kick on

Alex Hales top-scored for England with 43 from 17 balls but could not kick on

Brathwaite said: 'It was bad and I asked they guys 'you know do you want to trudge on or do you want to call it a day?'

'The players were in agreement. We said 'do you know what, let's give it a go'.'

'We had a similar start (to England) and then we fell away. We knew we had to stick in it. The way we finished the game was really fantastic.'

West Indies openers Evin Lewis (51) and Chris Gayle (40) got their side off to a good start before Brathwaite and Kesrick Williams claimed three wickets apiece as England fell short of their target.  

Despite some lusty late blows from Liam Plunkett England fell short of West Indies' 176 total

Despite some lusty late blows from Liam Plunkett England fell short of West Indies' 176 total