England CAN win the T20 World Cup and unite two global limited-overs belts, insists captain Morgan

Eoin Morgan has insisted England can unite the two global limited-overs titles ahead of their first game at the T20 World Cup against West Indies.

‘The side who adapts the best throughout this tournament will go on and on win, and within our squad, we have the ability to do that,’ he said. 

‘We’ve shown that we can get 200 or maybe more, and also play in the dogfight game – the 130 or 140 game.’

Eoin Morgan (second from R) has insisted England can unite the two global limited-overs titles

England kick off their T20 World Cup campaign against defending champions West Indies

His West Indian counterpart Kieron Pollard revealed that his team had been watching a re-run of the 2016 final in Kolkata, where Carlos Brathwaite hit Ben Stokes for four sixes to win the game in the last over.

‘It will definitely be in the back of their minds,’ he said. ‘What Carlos did was unbelievable. 

‘We watched it last night, and it brought goosebumps back to us. It shows that never-say-die attitude. As a team we look forward to trying to replicate winning the tournament, but those moments stick with us.’

Both sides will likely face scorching temperatures of up to 36 degrees in Dubai, with  England concerned that perspiration will make the ball hard to grip for spinners and seamers alike.

Morgan’s men won their maiden 50-over World Cup title in July 2019 on home soil

West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard has revealed his side have re-watched the 2016 final

But bowling all-rounder David Willey revealed Morgan’s men had been preparing for the extreme heat of a World Cup in the Gulf by dunking cricket balls in water to replicate the effects of sweat and dew, the latter a huge problem for the side bowling second under lights.

‘We’ve got to think about how we’re going to keep our hands and arms dry, how to dry the ball and how to bowl with a wet ball,’ said left-arm seamer David Willey.

‘It’s something we’ve discussed, even if it’s just dunking balls in buckets, and catching, fielding and bowling with these wet balls. We’ll probably get some more towels and sweat bands on the way, to change them every over for the lads that are heavy sweaters. You start sweating and you just can’t stop. You just get saturated from head to toe.

‘If the spinners are trying to grip the ball, it’s going to be a challenge if it’s soaking wet. The biggest thing for the seamers, towards the back end when you’re sweating the most, is being confident about bowling yorkers.’

Carlos Brathwaite scored four sixes off Ben Stokes’ final over in the final at Eden Gardens