Reece Topley gave England skipper Eoin Morgan a welcome boost on Wednesday, despite being on the end of a six-wicket One-Day International (ODI) defeat to Pakistan in Abu Dhabi.

The former Royal Hospital School pupil, 21, took three wickets for 26 runs as England toiled, having twice collapsed earlier during their innings of 216 all out.

After a nervy start with three wides in his first over, the Ipswich-born left-armer pinned Azhar Ali lbw on the crease and then hit a second opener in front too as Bilal Asif departed on a DRS overturn.

Then, in a significant moment, Younus Khan’s final ODI innings ended when he mishit a pull to Adil Rashid at mid-on to give Topley his third wicket.

It was only Topley’s second ODI international but he has certainly planted a seed in Morgan’s mind, ahead of tomorrow’s second game.

“He (Topley) is outstanding, he is a great guy to have around, very exciting, very vibrant and he swung the ball beautifully up front,” said Morgan. He is a young guy, but very mature and as soon as he steps out on the pitch he knows exactly what he wants to do.”

He added: “I was certainly happy with what (bowling) I had considering we were playing on the same surface that offers enough spin for our bowlers.

“It’s about having a bit more scoreboard pressure and maybe things going our way a bit more.

“Even if we had scored 30 more, the game would have been different as Pakistan were on exactly the same total with four wickets down, at the halfway stage.”

“Our bowlers swung the ball and taking early wickets gives me confidence with the spinners we do have.”