Published: Sep 04, 2015, 02:08 AM (IST)
Edited: Sep 04, 2015, 10:45 AM (IST)
Australia beat England comfortably by 59 runs to win in the first One-Day International (ODI) at Southampton. Some clinical performances from the bowlers defending a score of 305, helped Australia register a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. England started off the innings well with Jason Roy and Alex Hales and the duo put on 70 for the opening wicket. Roy, after an ordinary beginning to his ODI career, finally registered his maiden half-century. After Roy was dismissed, England sort of lost their way since then and never recovered. They kept losing wickets at regular intervals and Australia never let of of the grip they had on England throughout the match. James Taylor and Eoin Morgan got off to good starts, but rash shots eventually led to their downfall. Full Scorecard: England vs Australia, 1st ODI at Southampton
Although Mitchell Marsh was on the expensive side, he got the first wicket that opened the floodgates. Glenn Maxwell then with his slow off-spinners got rid of Roy. A series of wickets then fell and England found themselves with a mountain to climb. Shane Watson has had a torrid time with the bat over the last few series, but he found his rhythm with the ball, dismissing the dangerous duo of Taylor and Morgan. England lost three wickets in a span of four deliveries in the latter stages of the game, still requiring well over eight -runs-an-over. Nathan Coulter-Nile was on a hat-trick at that point but Adil Rashid successfully managed to keep it out. Full Updates: England vs Australia, 1st ODI, Southampton
It was just a matter of time before England surrendered, but Moeen Ali and Rashid’s little fight at the end of the innings was short lived as Rashid was caught behind off Mitchell Starc for 11. Moeen was the last recognised batsman and it would have taken a herculean effort on his part to take England home from there. Moeen’s dismissal proved curtains for for England and Australia finished things off in style.
Earlier, Australia made an excellent comeback to reach 305 for 6 after Rashid’s four-wicket haul in the first innings. Matthew Wade’s unbeaten 71 too helped Australia’s cause. Australia started off well as the opening pair of David Warner and Joe Burns got the team off to an excellent start. Burns was the dominant partner. He was scored the bulk of runs in the opening partnership of 76, with Warner being happy to play some sensible ground strokes to get his eye in. Burns could not however get to his fifty as he fell six runs short, hitting one straight back to Rashid for 44. Skipper Steven Smith then came out to support Warner.
Warner managed to reach his 12th fifty in ODIs during his 67-run stand with Smith for the second wicket. But Warner could not convert this into a big score as he flashed at a full, wide delivery from Rashid and Chris Woakes completed the formality by taking a good catch. Just like the openers Smith too was dismissed after he got a good start at 44. He was very patient in his approach and took minimal risks. But he failed to clear the deep mid wicket fence off a full toss and Ben Stokes took a simple catch at deep mid wicket. George Bailey, Shane Watson and Glenn Maxwell were the next three batsmen dismissed in a hurry, without making any significant contribution to the total. Australia were struggling at 193 for 6 at this stage in just the 38th over, but that is when Marsh and Wade stepped in to add some stability to the innings.
Wade got to his half-century off 41 deliveries and Marsh at the other end was going at over run-a-ball. England had to cut the run flow and they could only do so only by breaking this partnership. But they were unable to do so. Wade punished the bowlers well and Marsh tried to give him as much strike as possible. Marsh went about his innings at s steady pace as the duo put on over 100 for the seventh wicket.
Earlier, Australia had won the toss and elected to bat first. Australia did not make any change to the side that beat Ireland few days back. England have rested the likes of James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Joe Root. England won the previous home series against New Zealand by a margin of 3-2.
Brief Scores
Australia 305 for 6 in 50 Overs (Joe Burns 44, David Warner 59, Steven Smith 44, Matthew Wade 71*; Mark Wood 1 for 72, Adil Rashid 4 for 59) beat England 246 in 45.3 Overs (Jason Roy 67, James Taylor 49; Nathan Coulter Nile 2 for 39, Shane Watson 2 for 39) by 59 runs.
Man of the Match: Matthew Wade
(Pramod Ananth is a reporter at CricketCountry. He has represented Karnataka table tennis under-15, and is a hardcore supporter of Liverpool FC. His Twitter handle is @pramz)
