Eoin Morgan said the potential of Ben Stokes is "through the roof" after having the best view in the house as the all-rounder's stunning century helped England knock Australia out of the Champions Trophy. England, already through to the semi-finals of a tournament featuring the world's top eight one-day international sides, were reeling at 35 for three chasing a target of 278 at Edgbaston on Saturday.
But in a match their arch-rivals had to win to join them in the last four, Stokes, with an ODI best 102 not out, and England captain Morgan (87) put on 159 for the fourth wicket at better than a run-a-ball. By the time a second rain interruption saw the game called off, England were 240 for four off 40.2 overs and won by 40 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method.
A previous rain break gave Morgan and Stokes time to assess their approach after a top-order collapse threatened to undo England's earlier good work in restricting Australia to 277 for nine, with fast bowler Mark Wood taking an ODI best four for 33 and leg-spinner Adil Rashid four for 41. When the match resumed, Morgan hit boundaries off the first two balls he faced from Australia spearhead Mitchell Starc, part of a sequence of five fours in 11 balls "We felt that the positive way was the best way," Morgan told reporters of the chat he'd had with Stokes shortly before the match got underway again. Australia captain Steve Smith, who skippered Stokes at IPL franchise Rising Pune Supergiant, added: "I always thought he was a good player. He's an incredibly strong lad and hits the ball very hard. "I think he's probably developed some smarts... He's certainly a quality player, and he's in exceptional form at the moment."
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SCOREBOARD
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Australia
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D. Warner c Buttler b Wood 21
A. Finch c Morgan b Stokes 68
S. Smith c Plunkett b Wood 56
M. Henriques c Plunkett b Rashid 17
T. Head not out 71
G. Maxwell c Roy b Wood 20
M. Wade c and b Rashid 2
M. Starc c Root b Rashid 0
P. Cummins c and b Rashid 4
A. Zampa b Wood 0
J. Hazlewood not out 1
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Extras: (lb8, w8, nb1) 17
Total: (9 wkts, 50 overs) 277
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Fall of wickets: 1-40 (Warner), 2-136 (Finch), 3-161 (Henriques), 4-181 (Smith), 5-239 (Maxwell), 6-245 (Wade), 7-245 (Starc), 8-253 (Cummins), 9-254 (Zampa)
Bowling: Ball 9-1-61-0 (1w); Wood 10-1-33-4; Plunkett 8-0-49-0 (1nb, 1w); Stokes 8-0-61-1 (4w); Rashid 10-1-41-4; Ali 5-0-24-0 (2w);
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England
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J. Roy lbw b Starc 4
A. Hales c Finch b Hazlewood 0
J. Root c Wade b Hazlewood 15
E. Morgan run out (Zampa) 87
B. Stokes not out 102
J. Buttler not out 29
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Extras: (lb2, w1) 3
Total: (4 wickets, 40.2 overs) 240
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Did not bat: M Ali, A Rashid, L Plunkett, M Wood, J Ball
Fall of wickets: 1-4 (Roy), 2-6 (Hales), 3-35 (Root), 4-194 (Morgan)
Bowling: Starc 10-0-52-1; Hazlewood 9-0-50-2; Cummins 8-1-55-0; Head 2-0-9-0; Henriques 1-0-6-0; Zampa 8.2-0-52-0 (1w); Maxwell 2-0-14-0;
Result: England won by 40 runs (DLS)
Man-of-the-match: Ben Stokes (ENG)
Toss: England Umpires: Chris Gaffaney (NZL), Kumar Dharmasena (SRI)
TV umpire: S Ravi (IND)
Match referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM).
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