Australia have secured the three-match ODI series by winning the first two games against England. Today, the Aussies faced England at the Sydney Cricket Ground, where the host beat the visitors by 72 runs. Aussie pacer Mitchell Starc received the Player of the Match award for his brilliant bowling display.
Toss: Pat Cummins, the captain of Australia, won the toss and decided to bat first.
Australia failed to have a good start.
Winning the toss, Australia couldn’t make a good start. Openers David Warner and Travis Head picked up only 33 runs o the opening wicket. David Warner lost his wicket first as Moeen Ali picked him up in the 6th over. After a while, Travis Head also followed the same path. He lost his wicket to Chris Woakes in the 9th over. Therefore, Australia became two men down within ten overs.
A strong response from the middle order
Losing two wickets in the first ten overs, Australia were under pressure. But, Steven Smith tackled the initial disaster with Marnus Labuschagne. Both batters were very careful on the pitch. They made a brilliant partnership of 101 runs to bring Australia into a good position.
Their partnership led the team towards a massive score. But, Adil Rashid broke their partnership by taking Labuschagne’s wicket in the 28th over. Marnus Labuschagne scored 58 runs before losing the wicket.
However, Steven Smith kept scoring runs. He was close to getting his 2nd successive century in this series, unfortunately, he had to stop in 94 runs as Adil Rashid picked up the wicket in the 47 over. Anyway, Mitchell Marsh added an important fifty for the Aussies. Relying on their runs, Australia ended their innings with 280 runs.
Mitchell Starc destroyed England’s top order
Defending the target, Australia got a flying start. Pacer Mitchell Star picked up two wickets in the very first over. Jason Roy and Dawid Malan had gone duck in the first over. Moreover, Josh Hazlewood bowled out Phil Salt to make England three wickets down.
Billings and Vince’s efforts didn’t work
England were under tremendous pressure after losing three wickets in five overs. But James Vince and Sam Billings made a fantastic job in the middle order to tackle the situation. Together they added 122 runs on the scoreboard.
It seemed England could chase the target. But Josh Hazlewood broke their partnership as he picked up James Vince in the 28th over. After that, spinner Adam Zampa started destroying the lower order. He and Mitchell Starc picked up four wickets each to end England’s innings in 39 overs. Therefore, England became all-out in 208 runs, and Australia won the match.
