ICC Champions Trophy 2017, England vs. Australia: 5 Talking Points

#5 Morgan-Stokes Partnership gets England back into the match

A fourth wicket partnership between Ben Stokes and Eoin Morgan led the English team to victory

Australian fans might have been jumping in joy after watching their bowlers demolish the English top-order with ease. Finally, it seemed like they were going into the semi-finals. However, England skipper Eoin Morgan and Ben Stokes had other ideas. They stitched together a partnership of 159 runs for the fourth wicket at a run-a-ball to steer England to the doors of victory.

Both the batsmen counter-attacked the Aussie bowlers who were on fire at that stage. It was the skipper Eoin Morgan who led from the front taking the attack to the Aussies first. His partner Ben Stokes joined in the act soon and once both batsmen found their feet there was hardly anyone stopping them.

The partnership ended when Morgan was run-out by Adam Zampa for a terrific knock of 87 (81) that included eight fours and five huge sixes. Although he got dismissed, the equation had become much easier for England as they required only 84 to win from 110 balls.

Ben Stokes continued his mastery with the bat even after Morgan departed. He, in fact, brought up his third ODI century when it was required the most. It was an innings star-studded with 13 fours and two sixes. He remained unbeaten on 102 (109) along with Jos Buttler who scored 29 (32) leading England’s score to 240/4 before rain stopped play. England were later declared the winners via the D/L method.