'Have to make mistakes' – Morgan

GettyImages-1184775006
GettyImages-1184775006

England lost the game by 21 runs, in part because of a number of dropped chances in the field. "When you drop that amount of catches it's not a great reflection on the performance and the levels of fielding that we aspire to," Morgan said. "There were a couple of catches that went in the sun which made it look a lot worse but as regards our standard catches, we expect more.

"I think it's more of an attitude thing because there's such a short turnaround, the natural default of any player is to step back and not commit to a 50-50 chance or their mindset changes to go back in their shell. That's not what we want, we want guys continuing to attack the ball, find themselves in hot spots if they're good enough and if they drop catches, they drop catches. That's the nature of it."

The English skipper was also glad that the new players in the side were not having things all their own way, believing adversity is an important step in their journey towards regular international cricket.

"We have to make mistakes," Morgan said. "If guys come in and smash it from the start and really find international cricket easy, I don't think that's a great opportunity given to guys. We want to see guys being pegged back and how they react from there. Chances will continue to come and opportunities will continue to come regardless of the result."

Batsman Dawid Malan, who top-scored for England with 39, was disappointed with his side's fielding, but also believed that the management of Morgan and head coach Chris Silverwood would help the side come back from it.

"We fielded really well in the first game, so for us to come here and do what we did today was disappointing," Malan told Sky Sports. "The good thing about the way Morgs (Morgan) and Silvers (Silverwood) run the show is they don't put a lot of pressure on you - it's up to us to rectify that problem."

Morgan was, however, full of praise for bowling all-rounder Chris Jordan, who finished with figures of 3/23 from his four overs, before smashing 36 from 19 balls. "He was exceptional," Morgan said. "One of the reasons we combine these new guys with experienced players is to have them out on the field doing what they do. Having CJ out there with his experience and his execution is outstanding. He's one of the best."

ICC Women's Cricket World Cup, 2025