(Reuters) – Travis Head took 4-28 as Australia strangled England with spin before launching a rapid pursuit of their target with rain in the air to clinch the One-Day International series 3-2 following a 49-run win via Duckworth-Lewis-Stern in Bristol yesterday.
Australia were cruising at 165 for two after 20.4 overs in reply to England’s 309 all out when the rain that had been expected all day washed out the prospect of any more play four balls past the threshold for constituting a match.
After being sent in to bat, England made a fast start as Ben Duckett smashed his way to 107, but they were stifled by Australia’s spinners and fell well short of a par score, having been 202 for two midway through their innings.
Australia made haste with the bat and cleared the boundary nine times to win a fascinating series they had led 2-0 until they allowed England to set up a decider with victories in the third and fourth matches.
“They (England) were on track for a big total, but the way the bowling attack assessed the conditions as the day went on was fantastic,” Australia’s captain for the tour Mitch Marsh said.
“The more bowling options and changes you can throw at batters to not let them settle works well for us. This was a really good series for us.”
England’s innings was a tale of two halves as they motored to 202 for two, one ball shy of the 25th over, but managed only 107 for eight in the next 24.3 overs as Australia used eight bowlers and turned to spin to slow England’s progress.
Duckett scored his second ODI century, matching his previous highest score of 107 not out against Ireland at the same venue in September last year.
He put on 132 for the third wicket with Captain Harry Brook (72 from 52 balls), while Phil Salt got the innings off to a bright start with 45 from 27 balls.
At that stage, scoring looked easy, but once the ball got softer and Australia turned to spin, the tourists were able to exert more control as they bowled 31.2 overs of spin in the innings.
They made sure they got ahead in the DLS equation as Matthew Short hit 58 in 30 balls and Steve Smith a more measured 36 from 48 balls as he ensured they did not lose wickets to bring England back into the game.
“It is not just the present, we are looking long-term, and we are trying to build towards bigger competitions that are coming up,” Brook said.
“We are trying a new brand of cricket and want to go out there and be entertaining. We have done that perfectly (in the series).”
