Eoin Morgan's attacking instincts proved the game-changer for England in their Champions Trophy rout of Australia, although the captain admits it was handy having the brilliant Ben Stokes at the other end too.
England's fourth-wicket pair turned the apparent perils of 3-35 for three in pursuit of 277 into a victory surge as their stand of 159 set up a 40-run Duckworth-Lewis victory which put Australia out of the tournament.
After Stokes hit a career-best unbeaten 102 from 109 balls, England were home and hosed by the time rain swept over Edgbaston for a second time, with a match-winning 4-240 on the board.
England's openers and Joe Root were back in the pavilion before a short initial rain break, leaving Morgan (87) and Stokes to come up with a plan to knock off an Australia total featuring three half-centuries but limited by four wickets each for Mark Wood and Adil Rashid.
Morgan's response was clear from the moment he resumed his innings, with boundaries from the first two balls he faced against Mitchell Starc among five fours reeled off in 11 deliveries.
"We just talked about how we were going to go about it," Morgan said. "We felt that the positive way was the best way.
"It managed to work, we did it in our own way."
Morgan's England are renowned for staying on the attack even in adversity.
"You have to earn the right for guys to make mistakes with the ball," he added.
"So I did what I do, and obviously Ben's very naturally aggressive and finds attacking quite easy."
Everyone was giving Stokes rave reviews after a third one-day international hundred continued his upward curve. And Morgan believes the allrounder has more improvement in him, especially after his successful maiden Indian Premier League campaign.
"He's always looking to influence the game - bat, ball, or even in the field," he said.
"A lot of guys with potential like that, when things aren't going (their) way, back into a corner - but that's not Ben."
England also had good reason to be grateful to Wood (4-33) and Rashid (4-41) as Australia lost their way from 4-239 with seven overs remaining.
"We've proved we can peg sides back regardless of where they're at going into the last 15 overs, which probably a couple of years ago was a bit of a car crash for us," Morgan said.
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