New Delhi: England's top-order capitulation against Afghanistan's inexperienced bowling attack in Wednesday's World Twenty20 match will worry their fans but skipper Eoin Morgan is not concerned.
Morgan's team slumped to 57-6 inside 10 overs against an Afghan side starved of top-level cricket with the same batting line-up that chased down a huge 230-run target against South Africa last week.
Six of the seven dismissed Englishmen fell to spin bowlers on a Kotla track which, Morgan admitted, was far from a raging turner.
"We chased down 230 a game ago. It was simply a matter of not adapting," Morgan told reporters after the 15-run victory over Afghanistan which kept his team on course for a place in the semi-finals.
Down the order, Moeen Ali (41 not out) and David Willey (20 not out) plundered 57 runs in 5.3 overs to rescue the 2010 champions but the late rally could not gloss over the top-order failure.
"I think we've been practising similar things that we needed today but we actually just didn't produce," Morgan said.
Asked if the fear of loss against an associate nation crossed his mind, Morgan said: "No, absolutely not. Before the game, we knew a lot about Afghanistan. They are a good side and certainly if they are going to beat us, we need to under-perform. We let them in today by under-performing with the bat but I thought our bowling was outstanding. In the field as well, we were pretty good, which is a good sign."
"The partnership between Moeen and Willey was very important. The difference of chasing 120 and 140 is huge. One of our strengths is that we bat down the order. Moeen batted really well today. We knew Afghanistan were playing four spinners and only one seamer and they would run the risk of bowling spinners in the last few overs," Morgan said.
In search of their maiden win in the tournament, Afghanistan were dealt a big blow in the opening over when dangerous wicket-keeper batsman Mohammed Shahzad got out in the third ball of their innings, trapped in front of the wicket by a swinging delivery from Willey.
Much was expected from their skipper Asghar Stanikzai but he failed to rise to the occasion and edged a short delivery from Chris Jordan to Joe Root at first slip.
In his next over, David Willey dismissed Gulbadin Naib and from there on Afghanistan kept losing wickets continuously and failed to put on a partnership that could have helped them register an upset win.
Samiullah Shenwari (22), Noor Ali Zadran (17), Rashid Khan (15), Najibullah Zadran (14) and Mohammad Nabi (12) all got starts but failed to make any impact.
Towards the end, Shafiqullah (35 off 20 balls) played a cameo with the help of four boundaries and two sixes, but it was not enough to guide Afghanistan over the line.
Leg-spinner Adil Rashid (2/18) and Willey (2/23) picked up two wickets apiece for England.
Earlier, the start was far from rosy for England as they lost half of their side in 8.1 overs with the scoreboard reading just 50.
Backed by some good fielding, Afghanistan dished out a disciplined bowling effort to control the proceedings for a major part of England's innings, barring the last five overs.
Jason Roy (5) was the first English batsman to get out in the third over when he was cleaned by a quick delivery from left-arm spinner Amir Hamza.
