Harry Brook’s Maiden ODI Century Propels England to Victory Over Australia in the 3rd ODI
Harry Brook’s first-ever One Day International century helped England defeat Australia in a pivotal third One Day International at Chester-le-Street on September 24, 2024.
Australia had 254 for 7, but rain stopped play and Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) decided the match. Brook’s unbeaten 110 from 94 balls was the cornerstone of England’s successful chase of 254 for 4.
Key Performances and Match Results
England 254 for 4 (Brook 110*, Jacks 84)
Australia 304 for 7 (Carey 77*, Smith 60, Archer 2-67)
England won by 46 runs (DLS method).
Match Analysis
England defeated Australia at Chester-le-Street thanks to Harry Brook’s spectacular maiden ODI hundred. Despite the chase initially looking difficult, it was managed with considerable ease before the rain came, leaving a 46-run lead on Duckworth-Lewis-Stern. With two games remaining, England’s victory in the format—its first since December—kept the series alive and ended Australia’s 14-game winning streak dating back to the 2023 World Cup.
Despite favorable conditions early on, Brook’s young team appeared to be in peril after failing to restrict Australia with the ball. Alex Carey’s unbeaten 77 spearheaded the cavalry charge in the second part of the innings. After Mitchell Starc dismissed both of the openers in the span of five balls, England staggered to 11 for 2 in the fourth over.
However, the chase was turned on its head by a stand of 156 between Brook and Will Jacks, who scored 84. Cameron Green removed Jacks and Jamie Smith, but Brook and Liam Livingstone put up another thrilling stand that reduced the required score to 51 from 74 balls before the weather turned bad.
Brook became the youngest captain of England to achieve a century in One-Day Internationals when he finished undefeated on 110 from 94 balls with 15 boundaries. Despite Australia losing a vital player to illness in Adam Zampa and choosing to rest Travis Head, this was an extremely positive performance and a crucial showcase of what England’s new-look batting lineup could accomplish following two expensive collapses at Trent Bridge and Headingley.
Soon after the innings break, it had seemed likely that Australia’s superior intelligence would decide the outcome. Against the same opponents in 2018, England’s 311 was the second-highest successful chase at the Riverside. However, England got off to a poor start, with Ben Duckett edging a drive to be caught at backward point and Phil Salt chipping Starc’s ninth ball to midwicket.
Notwithstanding the debris, Jacks and Brook did not waste any time in demonstrating their abilities. Jacks calmly clipped the fourth ball, which came from Hazlewood, back down the ground to long-on, and Brooks’s fifth delivery, which was an overly-pitched ball from Starc, vanished through additional cover.
For the most part, they batted cautiously at first, trying now and then to manipulate the lengths of the bowlers, as when Jacks moved forward to force Hazlewood through the off side. England were 45 for 2 at the end of the first powerplay – Australia having been 41 for 1 – and began to open up as Mitchell Marsh went through his bowling choices. The first ball Glenn Maxwell struck was slapped over the head of mid-off by Brook, who followed up with an even stronger blow that went all the way to Matthew Short.
In the same over, Brook reached his first fifty runs off fifty balls as captain, replacing the injured Jos Buttler. The decibel levels in the home fans started to rise as the hundred partnership reached two balls later, before Jacks brought up his individual half-century, from 55 balls. When Starc was bowled out for 19 in his sixth over—his third-highest cost in one-day internationals—the mood only got wilder. Jacks drove and pulled fours before Brook finished the over with a lofted drive over cover.
With England again in the ascendancy, Jacks was out for a deep third-wicked uppercut and Jamie Smith’s top-edged pluck falling to deep backward square leg, but Brook remained unfazed as he hit back-to-back fours from Starc to reach triple figures for just the second time in List A cricket.
By that point, Livingstone had already hit two of his opening seven balls for six. With rain predicted, he quickly put England ahead of the DLS requirement with a flurry of boundaries, making the outcome obvious even before significant rain fell.
After being inserted, Australia were once again indebted to Carey, who was only included in the squad because to an injury Josh Inglis suffered during the T20I series, as he hit the most runs for the second straight game. In difficult circumstances, Steven Smith set the tone with his first fifty of the series. Then, Carey and the lower order rampaged, adding 104 from the final 10 overs, with Aaron Hardie showcasing his strength with a career-best 44 off 26 that featured two sixes off Jofra Archer.
As Brook had hoped at the toss, there was something there for the seamers, even though England only scored once during the first powerplay. Marsh and Short, without Head, were caught hooking Archer to deep backward square leg after the latter had struck the identical shot for six balls. After that, Matthew Potts believed he had Smith out for the count, but ball-tracking revealed that the delivery would have cleared the leg stump upon closer inspection.
Marsh fought through a powerplay while absorbing multiple body knocks, but he fell immediately after. Brydon Carse used his familiarity with the area to find a nibbly Riverside stretch and hit Jamie Smith off the outside edge with a straight shot. Australia then attempted to rebuild, with Smith and Green, who shared the third wicket, mostly using low-risk strokes in an 84-run partnership to remove the front-row seamers before focusing on spin, especially the fifth-bowler combo.
At first, Jacks and Jacob Bethell let boundaries go, but when Australia started to appear well-positioned, both spinners struck quickly afterward. After the fielder had just been pulled back from a close-in position, Green firstly whacked Bethell to Jacks at direct mid-on. Afterward, Marnus Labuschagne got into a tangle while attempting to scoop Jacks and made an easy catch to the keeper.
Australia was thankful for Smith’s stickability as he proceeded to score a 71-ball fifty and surpass the mark with his fifth boundary, despite being suddenly 132 for 4. After that, Brook returned to Archer, where he eventually defeated Smith in a duel and removed him for the first time in an international match when Carse made an outstanding running catch at deep square leg.
The innings might have collapsed at 172 for 5, but Carey and Maxwell combined for quick half-century stands to turn the tide of the match in Australia’s favour. England was under strain as 55 runs came from the final four overs, with Hardie’s aggressiveness at number eight standing out. But Brook had a creditable answer with the bat.
Harry Brook’s Maiden ODI Century Silences Critics
A puff of cheeks followed by a glance up at the sky. He let out a “fookin’ ‘ellll” sound through his mouth. In the 34th over of England’s chase, Harry Brook’s response said it all. Who gives a damn? Yes, he does.
After criticism of his prior remarks in defeat, the maiden ODI century appears to be a fitting response.
His first ODI century brought a wave of relief that you could sense more widely about the past week, his role in it, and the circumstances his team faced at the Seat Unique Riverside.
England were on their way to winning this third One-Day International in Durham, following two humiliating losses. And at the end, a cricket player who may not have realized how draining being the captain of an ODI team could be—”I was actually knackered when I got out there after 50 overs in the field,” he said—finally had the opportunity to feel like the less anxious of the two leaders.
There are some disclaimers, of course, but none related to the fact that rain forced the players to leave the field in the 38th over of England’s run for 305. The 74 balls remained, and Brook and Liam Livingstone had started gobbling up what was left, leaving 51 on the table that would likely be consumed in less than half of the time. At the play-break, they led 46 to 46 on DLS.
Australia’s decision to rest Travis Head contributed to their slow start, as they only managed nine boundaries in the first twenty-five overs. However, a late burst saw them reach 304 for 7. Due to Adam Zampa’s illness, they were left without an extra element, as Glenn Maxwell and Matthew Short’s full-time “part-time” offspin combined for three forgettable overs.
Legspin would have been a useful weapon to break up the seam monotony that England effortlessly navigated through the middle overs, where Brook and Will Jacks thrived after teaming up at 11 for 2. The absence of Adam Zampa always makes the team different, according to Australia’s head coach Andrew McDonald’s comments following the game.
Not only did Brook win his third successive toss, but the weather at Chester-le-Street was ideal for bowling up top, even though it hadn’t helped at Trent Bridge or Headingley. However, it proved to be the first of many wise decisions in what ended up being a successful day for the 25-year-old.
Brook had some fair amounts of guile in the field before to becoming a great at bat. The finest of it was perhaps when Cameron Green was removed with an unusually close and narrow mid-on, ending a 68-run partnership with Alex Carey, who was essentially protecting Matthew Potts, the fielder, at the non-striker’s end while Jacob Bethell swirled his left-arm orthodox from around the wicket.
Brook clarified the unique placement by saying, “There wasn’t much turn and Beth was kind of just sliding it on.” Green did not have to rush down and smack the ball directly to Potts, as Brook himself conceded. I won’t claim too much credit; to be honest, it was a little bit of chance. It’s pleasing to observe, though, when a modification is implemented and immediately effective.”
Marnus Labuschagne had been traded in for a duck in an earlier alteration. The Australian No. 5 tried to relieve himself with a scoop off Jacks, eager to score early despite being shut out of alternatives below the line. Jamie Smith caught an easy ball behind the stumps after it ricocheted off his grille.
Things did go wrong for Brook towards the end of Australia’s innings, despite some fine management of the attack, especially from Brydon Carse, who bowled better than numbers of 1 for 55 imply. After Carey’s acceleration and Aaron Hardie’s entry, 104 runs were scored in the final 10 overs, with the final four scoring an astounding 55.
England appeared to be lacking a seamer, more precisely an all-arounder. However, it brought some solace when their most esteemed member of that species took the time to assure Sky that he would be more than happy to come back when the time came.
Of course, winning helps, but Brook thought this was a far more relaxed captaincy assignment. “Over time, it’s become more pleasurable. I occasionally felt a little bit frantic throughout the first game. However, as the show has progressed, I’ve felt much more at ease.”
At least from the perspective of his batting, it appeared that way. A devastating undefeated 110, three figures reached in just 87 deliveries, ends a 16-inning run in which no century has been scored in either domestic or international format. Since his sixth Test century against the West Indies at Trent Bridge in mid-July, there have only been two half-centuries, for the Northern Superchargers against the Manchester Originals and in the opening innings of the first Sri Lanka Test, among eight other double-figure scores.
There were a few familiar features of the Brook that England supporters are used to. He attributed his success to monitoring the ball, playing it late, and keeping his head “as still as possible”—qualities that, to be fair, were very evident today. However, there were also the typical impulsive tendencies.
In the ninth over, he used his feet for the first time, carving Josh Hazlewood over backward point. With lofted drives over extra cover, he welcomed the initial deliveries of Maxwell and Short for four and six, respectively.
He had an ally in Jacks who was prepared to run ahead of him. In the 23rd over, they tag-teamed Mitchell Starc, giving the left-arm fast his third most costly over in ODIs (19). By the time Jacks sliced to point for 84, breaking their stand for 156, the ask was a reasonable 138 from 135 deliveries. Brook appeared determined to maneuver through that number by driving, cutting, and scooping, but in the end, he had to settle with 40 out of the 87 wickets England had taken before the rain started.
McDonald remarked, “He’s an impressive player.” “He’s going to have a long career for England, and he’s going to give us some headaches along the journey.”
This could be considered a form of statement knock. Maybe twofold. For starters, it provided Brook with an opportunity to elucidate remarks made following the first ODI. The comment in question, “If you get caught somewhere on the boundary or in the field, then who cares?” sparked widespread laughter from both fans and pundits.
“I think people took that a little bit the wrong way,” he stated. You have to play with abandon and practically adopt a ‘who cares’ mentality. That isn’t a “who cares if we lose” mentality; we still aim to succeed. However, you don’t want to venture outside and experience that escape anxiety.”
While it was evident at the time, Tuesday’s knock, which featured two sixes and thirteen fours, serves as a helpful reference to make it very evident. Here was Brook leading from the front, in that comfortable place where he shows how much he cares by not caring enough.
