'Close matches are great practice going into CWC19' – Eoin Morgan
England stuttered in chase of 198 in the one-off one-day international against Ireland on Friday, 3 May before Ben Foakes rescued them from 101/6. On Sunday, in the T20I against Pakistan, it went down to the final over, with Morgan guiding his team to a seven-wicket victory. Both wins were far from comfortable, but that does not worry Morgan.
"Two close matches is great practice for us [going into a World Cup]," he told Sky Sports. "The guys are learning from this as we go on. They were two different challenges in the space of three days.
What a way to finish things off by Eoin Morgan!
A ball after going to fifty, England's captain lofts Faheem Ashraf over long-off for six to seal a seven-wicket win.#ENGvPAK SCORE ➡ https://t.co/GlBo1xbqHK pic.twitter.com/j6CdUD98sh
— ICC (@ICC) May 5, 2019
"Given we have a fixture in Cardiff during the World Cup, it is very important we get back into the habit of knowing the dimensions of the ground, feeling comfortable with either chasing or setting, and getting our plans right when we are bowling."
Morgan also spoke of the importance of playing a young side. "We made a lot of changes today, three guys coming in [Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett and Foakes], and making their debuts, so getting over the line for the guys coming in, and playing a young team, is important.
"It makes it easier for them to learn and assess their own performance and the team performance in the right way, as opposed to looking inwards and blaming themselves for losing a game."
Jofra Archer finished with figures of 2/29 on his T20I debut
Morgan was lavish in his praise of Archer, who returned 2/29 in his four overs and put the brakes on Pakistan with the dismissals of Haris Sohail and Babar Azam in the 15th over. They were both set batsmen, who had put on a century stand, and Pakistan were able to add only 39 runs in the remaining 25 balls.
"I thought Jofra came on from the game in Ireland," Morgan said. "He showed a lot more of what he's about. It can take time. Today was another debut for him, and like I said the other day, they don't always go that well – actually the majority of the time they don't. But I thought today, he came on a lot more.
"Hopefully he'll have an opportunity throughout the series [the five ODIs against Pakistan] to do the same."
Given we have a fixture here in Cardiff during the World Cup it is very important that we get back into the habit of knowing the dimensions of the ground, feeling comfortable with either chasing or settingEoin Morgan
While Morgan was happy with Archer's debut, he was critical of the rest of the bowling unit. "We were a little bit hit-and-miss with our bowling," he said. "Pakistan are a very good side, but I wouldn't say it was anywhere near our best [with the ball]."
England and Pakistan will now clash in a five-match ODI series, beginning on Wednesday in London.