England 316-8 (50 overs) beat Australia 259 (47.4) all out by 57 runs (Australia lead Series 3-1)
Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes inspired England to their first win in their tour of Australia. After eight consecutive losses, England finally managed to muster a victory. Cook and Bell got England off to a solid start after being put into bat by Australia. However, at 87-0 Cook was dismissed for 44 after being bowled out by Maxwell. England continued at a good pace whilst Bell passed fifty as well as putting on a fifty partnership with Stokes. Australia took their second wicket to reduce England to 138-2 as Bell left for 55. England pressed on as Stokes reached his fifty whilst putting on another fifty partnership, this time with Ballance. However, Australia took a string of wickets as England fell to 216-5 after 39 overs. Morgan and Buttler restored some balance to the innings, putting on a fifty partnership to steer England past 280 runs. However, Morgan fell for 33 with just over 2 overs to go. Buttler pressed on, passing fifty off 49 balls before being dismissed for 71. Bresnan was the last wicket to fall with only one ball remaining but England put themselves in a strong position, finishing their innings 316-8 after 50 overs.
Australia started their chase well but were pegged back to 46-1 as Bresnan dismissed Marsh. Finch and Wade put on a fifty partnership whilst Finch passed fifty. However, Bopara and Stokes dismissed Wade and Bailey respectively to reduce Australia to 132-3. Finch reached his century before England started to take control. Smith and Finch were both dismissed to leave Australia 189-5 before Stokes took the wickets of Maxwell, Faulkner and Johnson in quick succession. It wasn't much longer before Australia's last two wickets were taken as Broad and Bresnan finished the job to bowl Australia out for 259 in hte 47th over. The result means England have won their first match of the tour but trail the ODI Series 3-1.
My Opinion:
Finally!! England win in Australia. I really wasn't expecting to say those words after eight successive defeats but it has happened. Better late than never but it was actually a very strong performance all round by England. After being put into bat I feared the worst once more but Cook and Bell started strongly. Decent scores from both of them saw England at 138-1. Stokes was by far the man of the match, scoring 70 runs and taking 4 wickets. Buttler and Morgan added vital runs quickly as England posted a strong score of 316-8 after their 50 overs. With the way things have been going so far on the tour, I expected Australia to surpass 316 and win again but England's bowlers had other ideas. Australia were 110-1 after a solid start but things slowly started to fall apart for them. Finch was the only player to score more than 30 runs for the Aussies as England kept taking wickets at important times. It was an impressive innings from Finch, scoring 108 off 111 balls but once he was dismissed it looked as though England were on course for the win. At 222-5 things took a turn for the better for England as Stokes took three quick wickets to reduce the Aussies to 239-8. From then on it was just a matter of time and Bresnan obliged to take the final wicket as Australia were bowled out for 259. They will not be best pleased with themselves as they didn't bat or bowl well enough today as a team. However, England will be delighted to see some hard work finally pay off. The ODI Series has been won but England can take some confidence going into the T20 Series. Hopefully, now that England have found out how to win again, they may win the final ODI and restore some pride.
Match Guide: Key Moments
Australia won the toss and will field first
England Innings:
(8) 55-0, 50 partnership between Cook 37* and Bell 16*.
(12.2) 87-1, Cook 44 (43), 8 fours, bowled by Maxwell.
(14) 102-1, Bell 41*, Stokes 10*.
(20) 125-1, 50 for Bell.
(21) 137-1, 50 partnership between Bell 55* and Stokes 32*
(21.4) 138-2, Bell 55 (52), 9 fours, caught Faulkner, Christian.
(26) 154-2, Stokes 37*, Ballance 8*.
(29) 172-2, 50 for Stokes.
(33) 189-2, 50 partnership between Stokes 60* and Ballance 18*.
(33.4) 190-3, Ballance 18 (30), 1 four, caught Smith, Pattinson.
(35) 200-3, Stokes 70*, Morgan 1*.
(36) 206-4, Stokes 70 (84), 6 fours, 1 six, caught Wade, Faulkner.
(39) 216-5, Bopara 3 (10), caught Sub, Coulter-Nile.
(45) 258-5, Morgan 24*, Buttler 28*.
(46) 270-5, 50 partnership between Morgan 25* and Buttler 39*.
(47.3) 287-6, Morgan 33 (33), 3 fours, 1 six, caught Christian, Faulkner.
(48) 290-6, 50 for Buttler off 49 balls.
(49) 306-6, Buttler 65*, Bresnan 2*.
(49.4) 312-7, Buttler 71 (43), 6 fours, 4 sixes, caught Johnson, Faulkner.
(49.5) 312-8, Bresnan 2 (4), caught Johnson, Faulker.
(50) 316-8, Broad 4*(1), 1 four, and Jordan 0*(0).
Batsman of the Innings: Buttler 71 (43)
Bowler of the Innings: Faulkner 4-67
Australia Innings:
(6.5) 46-1, Marsh 15 (17), 2 fours, caught Bell, Bresnan.
(9) 52-1, Finch 32*, Wade 4*.
(17) 87-1, 50 for Finch.
(19) 96-1, 50 partnership between Finch 58* and Wade 22*.
(20) 110-1, Finch 71*, Wade 23*.
(20.3) 110-2, Wade 23 (42), 1 four, caught Cook, Bopara.
(26) 132-3, Bailey 11 (15), 1 four, caught Buttler, Stokes.
(30) 160-3, Finch 97*, Smith 10*.
(31) 169-3, 100 for Finch.
(31.4) 174-4, Smith 19 (16), 2 fours, 1 six, caught Buttler, Broad.
(35.1) 189-5, Finch 108 (111), 8 fours, 4 sixes, caught Broad, Bresnan.
(38) 211-5, Maxwell 22*, Christian 5*.
(39.1) 222-6, Maxwell 26 (26), 2 fours, caught Buttler, Stokes.
(41.5) 230-7, Faulkner 2 (11), caught Buttler, Stokes.
(43.4) 239-8, Johnson 6 (8), 1 four, bowled by Stokes.
(45) 247-9, Christian 23 (19), 1 four, 1 six, caught Ballance, Broad.
(47) 256-9, Coulter-Nile 5*, Pattinson 4*.
(47.4) 259 all out, Pattinson 4 (9), caught Buttler, Bresnan. Coulter-Nile 9*(12). England win by 57 runs. Australia lead ODI Series 3-1.
Batsman of the Innings: Finch 108 (111)
Bowler of the Innings: Stokes 4-39
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