Eoin Morgan believes that England will still win the 2023 World Cup despite their opening day mauling at the hands of New Zealand at Ahmedabad.

New Zealand romped home to a nine-wicket victory, chasing down England’s total of 282 with a whopping 13.4 overs remaining as Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway both tonned up on World Cup debut.

Morgan, who captained England to the 2019 World Cup title, argued yesterday that England needed to “go harder” and didn’t “throw enough punches” with the bat as they staggered to an under-par total that was hauled down with ease. The reigning champions were without Ben Stokes who missed the game with a hip niggle.

“I tipped England to win the competition in the build-up and I still have complete faith,” Morgan told the ICC. “Nothing about today’s performance worries me when it comes to believing they can win the trophy. The advantage of having this format is that one bad day doesn’t ruin your tournament, when previously one bad day could have you home within a week. I still think they can and will win this World Cup.”

The former England skipper also reiterated his message that England didn’t stick closely enough to the aggressive approach that has brought them so much success in recent years. He said: “From an English perspective, we have come to have a level of expectation in Jos Buttler’s team that regardless of the surface, he wants them to take an aggressive approach.

“We didn’t see that in a strong enough way and what this defeat does, in dramatic fashion, is emphasise the way to play throughout this World Cup. Their strongest suit going forward is to be more aggressive and I think that will be Jos’ message – ‘we need to go harder’.”

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