Eoin Morgan Terms His Record 17 Sixes Against Afghanistan As "Strange" And "Weird"
Eoin Morgan's knock was made more remarkable by the fact that he struggled with back spasms during the last game against the West Indies and had to face a late fitness test in order to play against Afghanistan.
Highlights
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Eoin Morgan brought up his century off 57 balls.
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Morgan smashed a world record 17 sixes in his side's 150-run win.
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Morgan had struggled with back spasms during the last game against WI.
England skipper Eoin Morgan, after playing a breath-taking 71-ball 148-run knock studded with avalanche of 17 sixes, tagged those record sixes as 'weird' and 'strange'. Eoin Morgan smashed a world record 17 sixes in his side's 150-run win over Afghanistan in their World Cup 2019 league game. The sixes were most in an inning in ODI history -- breaking the previous record of 16 held jointly by AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle and Rohit Sharma.
Eoin Morgan's knock helped England post 397/6 -- their highest in any World Cup -- and they eventually recorded a big win to return to the top of the table.
"Never have I ever thought I could play a knock like that but I'm delighted that I have. It's weird. It's very strange to have that sixes record. It's something, along with the innings, I never thought I'd do. It's a nice place to be," Eoin Morgan said after the match on Tuesday.
"The last four years, I've probably played the best in my career but that hasn't involved a 50 or 60-ball hundred. I thought I would have it in the locker somewhere but it's never happened, so I sort of gave up on it a little bit," said the 32-year-old batsman.
Morgan brought up his century off 57 balls, although that was 11 slower than Jos Buttler's England record of 46 deliveries against Pakistan in 2015 -- meaning the skipper does not have complete ownership of bragging rights. That was why he said his England teammates still won't be impressed by the six-hitting feat.
"I think I'm probably just becoming a target for the guys in the changing room to take down. The hundred I scored is considered a slow one in our changing room - guys talk about it all the time. So it's a tough school!" Morgan said in lighter vein.
Morgan's knock was made more remarkable by the fact that he struggled with back spasms during the last game against West Indies and had to face a late fitness test in order to play against Afghanistan.
(With PTI inputs)
England Cricket Team
Afghanistan
Eoin Morgan