Old Trafford witnessed outright carnage! Merciless, relentless and ruthless. Do these words come into one's mind when we talk about Eoin Morgan? ABSOLUTELY NOT! The England captain brought on a fury that was certainly not expected from him. During England's clash against Afghanistan in Manchester, Morgan's blitzkrieg saw him smash a 57-ball century, his 13th ODI ton and went on to hammer 148 before being removed on Tuesday. (ENG vs AFG Live Score)
Morgan smashed a record-breaking 17 sixes in an ODI match, breaking the record of most sixes in an ODI innings, breaking Chris Gayle's record of 16 in the 2015 World Cup in Australia. India vice-captain Rohit Sharma had hammered 16 sixes against Australia in an ODI in 2013.
Morgan, who had been a doubtful starter because of a back problem, raised his half-century from 36 balls, then went on to smash a 57-ball ton and hammered 148 in 71 balls before being removed.
Afghanistan witnessed a relentless barrage by Jonny Bairstow (90), followed by Root (88), but while Root was gradually building his way through, Morgan stepped on the pedal from ball one just ripped through Afghanistan.
The England captain dominated a 189-run third-wicket partnership with Joe Root, who was 45 when his skipper arrived at the crease and was eventually out for 88 from 82 deliveries.
Afghanistan had the chance to prevent the annihilation, unfortunately, some poor fielding cost the visiting team, none more than the dropped catch when Morgan was on 28. He pulled Rashid Khan out to deep midwicket, where Dawlat Zadran got one hand to the ball before it trickled to the boundary.
England posted a mammoth total of 397/6 in 50 overs, which saw World's No.1 T20 bowler, Rashid Khan, register the worst World Cup figures of all time. The Afghan spinner's figures read - 9-0-110-0.
Moeen Ali hit the 25th six of the innings on the penultimate ball as England beat its own record for most sixes in an ODI innings.
Morgan and Jason Roy didn't bat last week in the eight-wicket win over West Indies because of injuries, with the skipper leaving the field with back muscle spasms and the opening batsman going off tearing his left hamstring. Morgan recovered in time to take on Afghanistan, but Roy was ruled out this week for at least two games.
(With AP Inputs)
