Morgan urges England to hold their nerve after SL loss

Agencies
June 22, 2019

Leeds, Jun 22: Eoin Morgan urged England to revert to type after a shock World Cup defeat by Sri Lanka cast doubt over their ability to reach the semi-finals.

Friday's 20-run loss at Headingley means England could have to win all three of their final group games against champions Australia, India and New Zealand in order to secure a last four spot.

Worryingly for England, they have not defeated any of that trio at a World Cup since 1992, although they did manage to tie with India in Bangalore eight years ago.

Sri Lanka's total of 232-9 did not appear to leave England, yet to win the World Cup, with an especially stiff chase on Friday.

But, with veteran paceman Lasith Malinga taking 4-43 and England tossing other wickets away, it proved enough despite Joe Root's grafting 57 and all-rounder Ben Stokes' unbeaten 82, with England bowled out for 212.

"You look at the basics of a run chase," said Morgan. "Partnerships are very important, we struggled to get enough partnerships going.

"We had a couple of individual innings but that's not good enough to win a game."

This was England's second pool loss after a 14-run defeat by Pakistan, but Morgan is refusing to panic.

"We are going to lose games in the group stages. We didn't deserve to win the game, we still need to go back to the process that's taken us to being a strong side in the world," he said.

England were hampered in their chase by the ongoing absence of in-form opener Jason Roy with a torn hamstring.

"Obviously we would love him in the side, he's a huge strength at the top of the order," said Morgan.

"But that's not why we lost the game. We bat all the way down. Every single one is quite significant because every single one could establish a partnership that could win you the game."

England's next match against Australia, who are currently top of the World Cup standings, at Lord's on Tuesday was always going to be a high-profile encounter.

But the stakes for England have been raised by a fourth successive loss to Sri Lanka in as many World Cups.

Morgan, however, insisted: "The message is quite simple: we need to do the basics along with the way that we play as well.

"When we get beaten we tend to come back quite strong. We tend to resort to aggressive, smart, positive cricket. Let's hope that's the case on Tuesday."

England may have risen to the top of the ODI rankings since a first-round exit at the 2015 World Cup by playing an aggressive brand of cricket that revolves around dynamic batsmen seeing the team to large totals.

But Friday's reverse will reinforce doubts over England's ability to adapt their game to the demands of low scoring affairs in high-pressure situations -- a problem that emerged during a 2017 Champions Trophy semi-final loss to Pakistan.

The way Moeen Ali hit off-spinner Dhananjaya de Silva for six only to hole out off the very next ball trying to repeat the shot was an especially worrying sign given the England all-rounder was appearing in his 100th match at this level.

"England have not played with any smartness," said former captain Michael Vaughan, commentating for BBC Radio.

"The game was won when Moeen Ali hit a six and he tried to hit another. I hope we are not in an era where in the dressing room you can't say that is not good enough."

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News Network
March 22,2024

IPL.jpg

The start of the world’s most lucrative cricket tournament in India is presenting investors with another big opportunity to cash in on the sport, months after the world’s most populous nation hosted the Cricket World Cup.

The eight-week long Indian Premier League begins March 22 for its 17th season. Since its inception, the fast-paced cricket tournament has become a corporate juggernaut to rival the National Football League in the US and the English Premier League in value.

Just as October’s Cricket World Cup boosted consumption in India for months, fans are expected to flock to restaurants, pubs and food delivery platforms over the duration of the tournament. This year’s IPL also coincides with general elections that will last for six weeks starting April 19, a period when companies are expecting higher food and drink sales as people flock to rallies and other events.

“There’s going to be a lot of spending,” said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Bank of Baroda. “IPL, as well as the election, gives a three-month corridor with enhanced economic activity.”

Stocks in India such as McDonald’s franchise operator Westlife Foodworld Ltd. and peer Sapphire Foods India Ltd. gained ahead of the first match on Friday, as well as hotels and beverage makers. Packaged-food companies could also stand to benefit from the IPL craze, said Sachil Bobade, an analyst at investment firm Dolat Capital Market.

The IPL ecosystem was valued at $11 billion (Rs 91,721 crores) in 2023, including the value of media rights and sponsorships, according to Indian valuation consulting firm D&P Advisory.

The league is also attracting record sums of money from sponsors and broadcasters. Conglomerate Tata Group won the title sponsorship rights of the tournament in January for a record 25 billion rupees ($300 million). Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s media venture secured the digital streaming rights in 2022 for five years for $2.7 billion, while Walt Disney Co. paid roughly the same for TV rights.

“There was a serious amount of bidding even this year,” said Vinit Karnik, head of entertainment, esports and sports at media agency GroupM South Asia. “I see growth in IPL in double digits year-on-year,” he adds.

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