Australia Clinches 3-2 ODI Series with Victory over England in Rain-Affected Match
Australia defeated England and the rain in an exciting fifth one-day international match in Bristol to win the one-day series by 49 runs using the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method.
Ben Duckett’s outstanding century for England was in vain as the visitors prevailed thanks to aggressive batting from Travis Head and Matthew Short as well as head bowling.
Key Performances and Match Results
England 309 (Duckett 107, Brook 72, Head 4/28, Hardie 2/38) lost to Australia (Short 58, Smith 36, Carse 1/36) by 49 runs (DLS Method).
Match Analysis
Australia defeated England and the rain just in time to win the one-day series in Bristol on Duckworth-Lewis-Stern thanks to a brilliant powerplay by Travis Head and Matthew Short and shrewd batting by acting captain Steven Smith. Their spinners produced a collapse for the second time in the five games, which included a career-best for Head, after Ben Duckett’s second ODI century and a Harry Brook assault had placed the home team on course for a massive total.
Australia’s chase was never going to be about 310 in 50 overs; the important number was the 20-over DLS, which changed in accordance with wickets lost. The visitors were obviously aware of the totals, and following a cautious opening three overs, Head and Short let loose, scoring 62 off the following four. They were so far ahead after 10 overs—100 for 1—that they could afford to lose a few wickets.
After a 23-ball maiden ODI fifty, Brydon Carse smashed the opening ball to remove Head, and Short edged behind. Josh Inglis and Smith, who both successfully reviewed being ruled lbw to Matthew Potts on 10 and 15th respectively, prevented additional losses, even though England failed to review an edge off Inglis at 122 for 2.
But with Australia off to such a rapid start, England needed more than one more breakthrough. The strategy was revealed when Brook, rather than Adil Rashid, went back to all pace during a pitch-assisting spin (and Potts realized all of a sudden that he needed a new boot).
When a result was guaranteed with a DLS of 116 for 2, the rain that had first arrived during the interval returned four balls. While the weather closed in a little more slowly than initially appeared likely, Australia didn’t completely defend their route there: in the 20th over, Inglis hit Carse with back-to-back sixes. Under normal circumstances, Australia were a reasonable value for victory, but given their resilience in the field, Rashid and England’s other spinners might have changed the course of the match.
Similar to what happened at Trent Bridge, England’s game was derailed by a solid batting foundation. After a fierce partnership of 132 off 98 balls between Duckett and Brook took them to 200 in the 25th over, the innings collapsed to 107 for 8 as soon as Brook was removed by Zampa. Smith used spin for 23 of the last 29 overs in a row and for a total of 28 overs.
Zampa had statistics of 0 for 42 after 2.2 overs, but on a dry surface where the spinners were getting more and more assistance, he started to pose a serious threat. List winked out of his head. A career best of 4 for 28, which included the crucial wicket of Duckett for a 91-ball 107; the standout moment of that innings was how fast he acquired length against the quicks in the first place, a hallmark of his hitting during a fruitful home summer.
However, England only struck one boundary between the 27th and 43rd overs because to the drastic shift in momentum. In a men’s ODI, Australia set a record with 194 balls of spin.
Having bowled for the first time since early April, Marsh pulled up sore at Lord’s, forcing them to shuffle their pack once more at the end of a trip marred by illness and injury. Sean Abbott was also replaced by Aaron Hardie, while Cooper Connolly made his ODI debut. Before the match, Ricky Ponting stated on television that Australia would regard a series victory highly considering the difficulties in the team.
In the opening over, which featured two plays and misses and three boundaries off Mitchell Starc, Phil Salt established the tone. That meant that after being pasted by Liam Livingstone at Lord’s, Starc had now lost 40 runs in his final two overs of the series. Salt kept missing and hitting the ball, outside edging a swish over deep third for six against Starc, and then hitting two considerably more convincing sixes off the first two deliveries from Hardie, taking England to fifty in the seventh over.
However, Hardie retaliated. First, he had Marnus Labuschagne take Salt well at deep point. The ball was then moved to a different part of the field, and he produced a beautiful delivery to put Will Jacks out for a duck. After England settled down for a few overs, Brook hit his first boundary off Josh Hazlewood’s ninth delivery. He then ended his opening over with a four and six, carrying on the team’s aggressive strategy against Zampa.
Eoin Morgan compared Brook’s lovely late cut to that of Mahela Jayawardene during the commentary. However, Brook’s blow to the short, straight boundary came next.
When Brook took three more sixes in Zampa’s second over, Smith was left scrambling for answers. Brook had plenty more to come. Duckett reached his fifty after hitting 45 balls, and Brook beat Hardie by sprinting to the mark at 39 after hitting another six over the leg side. When Zampa returned for the start of his second period and had the attack at his disposal, Brook extended his record of sixes to seven with another back-to-back brace.
However, Australia made a breakthrough when Brook misplayed Zampa on the ground and found Glenn Maxwell at a distance. Maxwell kept up his great work with the ball, gaining a lot of surface grip and pushing one beyond Jamie Smith. Then Zampa discovered Livingstone’s upper edge with one that suddenly rotated and bounced, exposing the lower middle-order.
As he reached an incredible century, Duckett was left with the responsibility of trying to steer the rest of the innings. For a while, he and Jacob Bethell held back, but Duckett attempted a repeat and skewed a catch to long-off, meaning Carse was walking in during the 34th over. Head had sent his third ball over long-on.
Rashid was left to nursing the total towards 300 after Head abruptly changed deliveries to have Carse leg before wicket and Bethell stumped. However, all eyes were already fixed upwards as Australia skillfully transitioned into T20 mode to claim the victory.
