Eoin Morgan returned to his swashbuckling best on Sunday, to tip the one off T20 match against India in England's favour. Out of form in the ODIs this summer, he turned in a captain's performance in the shorter game at Edgbaston to disappoint what seemed to be a heavy Indian contingent watching on.
Indeed, when Moeen Ali came out to bat he was greeted by a strangely non-partisan crowd reaction for a home player. It may have affected him as he was out for a duck.
England began brightly as they tried a new opening partnership, with the exciting pair of Alex Hales and Jason Roy being given their chance to potentially beckon in a new era.
That didn't last long though as debutant Roy, despite an inventive reverse sweep for four off only his second ball was dismissed for only 8. Hales hit some impressive blows in a solid 40.
The home side's innings trundled along against an array of Indian bowling options, with up to five spinners available to them in the side. That is until Morgan came in and began to remind onlookers why he had created such a buzz on his arrival into the England side, with his wide array of shots and powerful blows. A rapid 71 from only 31 balls (including a record equalling seven sixes for England in T20 cricket) was just what his team needed to propel them to a sizeable score to test the Indians. They finished on 180 for 7 as Indian bowlers seemed to lose their accuracy towards the end under the Morgan onslaught, allowing Ravi Bopara to contribute a vital 21 at the death.
India in reply seemed to be well on course to match their requisite target while Virat Kohli was at the crease and scoring freely in much the same way as Morgan had. He shared an impressive 79 run partnership with Shikhar Dhawan which looked to be easing the Indians towards victory. His dismissal on 66 was a blow to their progress and the final blow seemed to have been struck when Revindra Jadeja tried for a second run that was never on.
Captain MS Dhoni was not best pleased but decided to take the onus on himself to chase the total down. His valiant 27 at the death, including a six off the first ball of the last over took his side to the brink but in the end it proved just too much. England staggered over the line to win by 3 runs and breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
Indeed, if Dhoni could have middled the final ball off Chris Woakes instead of finding Ali on the boundary, then the five they needed could have been achieved.
As it was, England gained a useful fillip at the end of a long series against an unpredictable Indian side. Heavily beaten in the Tests once England had remembered how best to utilise home bowling conditions, but then totally in control in the ODIs.
