Cricket World Cup 2019: England captain Eoin Morgan delivers bruising critique of fielding in loss to Pakistan

Jason Roy’s drop of Mohammed Hafeez on 14 was the most costly slip, with Hafeez going on to make 84, but was just one element of an abject display

Eoin Morgan was unstinting in his criticism of England’s fielding as Pakistan brought them crashing down to earth with a 14-run win in their second game of the World Cup. “We were outfielded and that was the difference,” Morgan said after Pakistan ran up an unassailable total of 348-8 in their 50 overs. “Our performance will go up and down but our fielding was below par. That should remain constant. It was way below par, and probably cost us 15-20 runs.”

Joe Root and Jos Buttler’s centuries got England within striking distance after the loss of early wickets, but in a tournament of fine margins, their uncharacteristically sloppy out-cricket will need immediate improvement. Jason Roy’s drop of Mohammed Hafeez on 14 was the most costly slip, with Hafeez going on to make 84, but was just one element of an abject display, with ones being turned into twos, twos turned into fours and numerous throws going astray.

“We’re frustrated in that we could have done something about it,” Morgan said. “With the bat, if you can get bowled out, you can say you have had an off day. But when the difference in the sides is in the field it is doubly frustrating. We’ve done all the work. It was just a really bad day in the field. It hasn’t happened a lot with us, but there were mistakes that we don’t normally make. And that’s disappointing.

“Fielding is an attitude thing. So it’s a matter of taking our stand-off attitude today in the field and getting it back to our positive attitude where we go for everything, creating that fearless nature where we maybe take a half-chance rather than standing off a normal chance. With the ball we restricted them, bearing in mind the wicket was good and the outfield fast. And we were never really out of the game until the early-40s overs.”

“Everyone believed we can do this,” said man-of-the-match Hafeez, who followed his 84 with seven tight overs of off-spin. “Everyone chipped in, giving everything. It was a total team effort. Sometimes you have to take calculated risks, and it worked for me today.”

Morgan denied that there was an issue with the team’s over rate, despite the Pakistan innings taking almost four hours. “I don’t wear a watch,” he joked. “The umpires are my only gauge and they said it was level with three overs to go.” If the International Cricket Council disagree, however, Morgan could face his second over-rate ban in a matter of weeks, this time of two matches rather than one.