Captain Morgan leads from the front

England skipper Eoin Morgan has led by example since urging his team to play positive, attacking cricket before the start of the one-day international series.

In four ODIs, Morgan has scored 38, 85, 62 and 92, with his blitz at Headingley the difference as England successfully chased a score of 300-plus against Australia for the first time on Friday.

The 29-year-old now tops the series runs tally, having compiled 277 at 69.25.

“I’m a firm believer that things work in cycles and when the cycle is in your favour, you’ve got to cash in,” Morgan said after Friday’s match.

“I’m taking advantage of a little bit of form which is good.”

Quick single: England chase 300 to force ODI decider

Morgan’s innings at Headingley also saw him pass Graham Gooch to become England’s greatest ODI run-scorer against Australia.

Mighty Morgan blasts off (restrictions apply)

Playing with freedom and flair, Morgan’s men have become a completely different outfit to the team disastrously booted out of the World Cup during the pool stage in March.

Morgan, too, is a different player. The England captain’s World Cup featured scores of 0, 17, 46, 27 and 0.

But since then, he has been in a rich vein of form when wearing England colours, having scored 322 runs at 64.4 in England’s 3-2 ODI series victory against New Zealand in June.

The left-hander suffered a dip in form in domestic cricket following that series, but his decision to take a month off to recharge and refocus ahead of the one-off T20 and five ODIs against Australia has paid off in spades.

Quick single: Talk of the terraces from Headingley

Being able to lead from the front was incredibly pleasing, Morgan said.

“I think it’s huge,” Morgan said.

“There’re only so many words you can say or so many ways you can inspire people, but the best way is to lead from the front.

“I did that which is great, but the thing about the chase is that everyone did contribute.”

Maxwell's stunning catch to dismiss Morgan (restrictions apply)

His attitude also appears to be rubbing off on his team. England have only successfully chased more than 300 in an ODI four times in their history, and two of those have happened in the last four months.

“The group of players we do have and the attitude they show is outstanding,” Morgan said.

“I’ve certainly never had that sort of feeling within the side before in a chase. They were very optimistic about things and it’s certainly not due to experience because we’re a young side, but it’s a ‘let’s take them on’ attitude, which is great.”

Quick single: Maxwell not a fan of boundary catch rule

Assistant coach Paul Farbrace has credited Morgan for England’s ODI resurgence.

"Eoin plays in a way which allows others to play, he backs up the talks we have about playing with freedom," Farbrace told Sky Sports.

"The way he skips down and puts the ball on the roof of the stand, others think they can do that.

"In the last two games, certainly with the bat we have been a lot more aggressive, and people have gone in and played how they want to play. Whatever happens on Sunday, it has been an incredible summer."

No total too high: Morgan

With the series tied 2-2 heading into Sunday’s fifth and final ODI at Old Trafford, Morgan said he thought his team would go in with the upper hand.

“If (momentum) does exist, it is with us,” he said.

“We managed to steal a little bit of it while in Manchester and I think going into Sunday, the guys are full of confidence and we’re really looking forward to it.”