English skipper Eoin Morgan expressed disappointment in the manner his side surrendered in the tri-series final to Australia by 112 runs but said that they will come back stronger in the World Cup beginning on February 14.
England were bowled out for just 166 while chasing the 279-run target. They failed to capitalise on the strong opening bowling display as they allowed Australia to notch up 278 for eight after being reduced to 60 for 4 in the 18th over.
"Winning the toss and bowling first and having them four down early was obviously brilliant but then they had a good partnership in the middle. They played well but it also encouraged us that the surface was getting better and that we could chase down anything under 300. It is disappointing, having been beaten in that fashion," said Morgan at the post-match press conference.
"One of the tests of this defeat is how we can come back from it. That's going to be huge. We were sort of tested a little bit like this in Sri Lanka and the guys came back really well and I have no doubt they will come back really well. We made bad decisions and that is disappointing," he said.
Glenn Maxwell scored 95 runs and then took four wickets to single-handedly deny England any hopes of a win, with Mitchell Johnson also chipping in with three quick wickets to blow the top-order away.
Asked if England again struggled against their nemesis, Morgan said, "I think our biggest worry was probably the pitch. We did not know what the pitch was going to be like and it turned out to be better than we thought."
"I think that the guys upfront bowled well, swung it a little bit. But again, we must have put ourselves under pressure but I don't know why we performed like this today. We will reassess over the next few days and come back stronger hopefully. But again, it's not all doom and gloom. In order to get to this final, we have played some really good cricket. Individual performances stood out like Steve Finn, Ian Bell in particular have been brilliant," he added.
England seemed to have turned a corner after their disappointing ODI run in 2014. They beat India comprehensively twice in this tri-series and even ran the hosts close on a couple of occasions.
"Getting over the line against Australia has been difficult. We have not earned the right to beat them, we have not performed well enough. I think if we perform to anywhere near our capability, we will beat Australia. I have no doubt about that," he said.
"One of the positives of this tour so far is that we have played good cricket but we still have not seen our best. It would worry me a little bit if we came here and we were at our best, we would struggle to maintain it. If we strive to get the best out of ourselves, we will be a very dangerous side, regardless of who we are playing," said the skipper.
Attention now turns towards the World Cup that starts in two weeks' time. England will take on Australia in their opening encounter in Pool A.
"I think the pressure builds on Australia from that perspective. They are the home side, first game of the World Cup, playing against a dangerous side. We are going out with all guns blazing and there is no pressure from our point of view," Morgan said.
