England Thrashes Australia with 186 Runs Victory to Square Series in Dominating Fashion
England leveled the series at 2-2 with a commanding performance at Lord’s, where they smashed Australia by 186 runs, paving the way for a thrilling finish at Bristol.
England’s massive 312/5 was set up by Liam Livingstone’s blazing 62* off just 25 balls and Harry Brook’s dominant 87. Under the Lord’s floodlights, Australia faltered and collapsed for 126, with Matthew Potts spearheading the effort with a career-high 4/38.
Key Performances and Match Analysis
England 312 for 5 (Brook 87, Duckett 63, Livingstone 62*) beat Australia 126 (Potts 4-38, Carse 3-36) by 186 runs.
Match Analysis
England crushed Australia by 186 runs at Lord’s on Sunday, putting on a fantastic all-around performance that set up a series decider at Bristol. The innings was driven by Harry Brook’s outstanding 87, which was crowned by Liam Livingstone’s explosive hitting in a ground-record 25-ball half-century.
After that, Jofra Archer gave fans a small taste of what it was like to be in 2019 with the finest outing of his most recent comeback, and Matthew Potts put on a dominant display to record a career-high 4 for 38.
Recalling the thrilling Ashes Test of the previous year, there was also a brief instance in which an Australian wicketkeeper caught attention. On 17, Brook was given out after glancing at Mitchell Starc down the leg side.
However, he questioned if Josh Inglis, who had been restored to the side due to an injury, had made the catch. Replays revealed that the ball pitched right in front of his gloves. The photographs were shown on a big screen to booing from the audience and some chants of’same old Aussies, always cheating’, but this was a mild interlude because 2023.
As England raced through the gears in a match that was shortened to 39 overs by heavy morning rain, Brook, who had scored his first ODI hundred in Durham, glided to a 37-ball fifty, adding 79 in 53 balls for the third wicket with Ben Duckett and 75 in 47 with Jamie Smith for the fourth.
With four sixes off the final over thrown by Starc, whose 28 runs conceded made it the most expensive over by an Australian bowler in men’s ODIs, Livingstone created a thrilling finale to the innings. In their last 15 overs, England scored 156 runs.
With Travis Head hitting a massive pull out of the stadium over the Tavern Stand, Mitchell Marsh and Head gave the daunting chase a promising start. Following the eight-over powerplay, Australia were 66 without loss against England’s 34 without loss. The game’s total of 16 sixes struck set a record for a Lord’s ODI. Still, maintaining the pace was a difficult task. Steven Smith narrowly avoided a brutal charge from Potts as Head sailed across the line at Brydon Carse.
Then Archer created something unique. At Marsh, an off-cutter accelerating at 88.2 mph curved in before straightening to beat the edge and crash off stump. With a brilliant ball, Archer claimed his first wicket at Lord’s since 2019, and he duly celebrated. The 2019 memories, albeit in colorful attire, were in full swing when his subsequent ball clattered into Marnus Labuschagne’s forearm, and Archer also added Glenn Maxwell during Australia’s collapse.
Before long, though, Carse produced an unplayable offering to flatten Labuschagne’s off stump, making his ball to Marsh a contender for delivery of the game (or series). Before Adil Rashid wrapped things up, England’s quicks put in a team effort, sharing nine wickets, with Potts getting three in four balls to get through the bottom order.
After England was called into bat, the ball nibbled around early under dense cloud. Shortly after the powerplay, Phil Salt was caught by the great Josh Hazlewood, skewing him to backward point. In his second over, Will Jacks picked out the same fielder, giving Marsh his first wicket since April 3. It was noteworthy that Marsh returned with the ball on a day when Cameron Green’s back issue was made public.
Before his near-dismissal, Brook had skipped out of the blocks with three leg-side boundaries, giving the impression that he was playing a different game than the other batsmen. This gave England momentum as they advanced towards him. Sean Abbott’s costly series went on; at the end of the innings, his three outings’ total numbers stood at 19.4-0-165-0. Brook and Duckett faced Adam Zampa in addition to the remaining overs of spin from Maxwell and Labuschagne.
One ball later, Duckett, who had earlier given Starc a hard return catch before scoring, smashed Zampa over long-on for six and proceeded to work hard to reach a hard-earned 51-ball half-century before top-siding the legspinner to deep backward square. Zampa was dismissed wide long on by Smith, who kept up his aggressive style, and Brook struck a second six to deep midwicket in the same ball. The spinners’ 12 overs went for 106.
Smith almost avoided getting run out due to a moment of inattention when he failed to run his bat in at the non-striker’s end. Nevertheless, Australia lost six runs due to the ball’s deflection going to the rope. By that point, Brook was vying with Jos Buttler for England’s fastest ODI century at Lord’s, which came from 61 balls, but Zampa ended his stay when Brook was caught long-on.
In the subsequent over, Smith was dismissed by slicing Maxwell to short third, but any worries that the innings may end slowly were dispelled by Livingstone‘s incredible late-round power. The audience erupted in joy as Starc’s numbers were dismantled, including two sixes into the pavilion, after he delivered a massive hit over midwicket off Hazlewood. In contrast to previous summer, an England-Australia series reaches the decisive game 2-2, yet Bristol’s weather may still have the last word.
