ENG vs AUS: England is currency hosting Australia for a 5-match ODI series, after the series in the shortest format ended in a 1-1 draw. The first ODI was played at Trent Bridge as it saw several iconic records being broken by none other than Australia’s unstoppable opener Travis Head.
Duckett’s close miss on a 100 and also at the back of handy quickfire totals from other batters England secured a 300+ target in front of the Aussie batters. As Travis Head kept the onslaught from one end, wickets fell at regular intervals for England, until Marnus Labuschagne took guard of Australia’s innings.
Head’s iconic 154*, broke the record of Indian veteran Rohit Sharma’s record for highest individual score by any batsman while chasing against England in England in limited-overs cricket. Labuschagne also with 77* guided the Aussies to a comfortable 7-wicket victory.
However, the second ODI match saw the return of greats like Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazelwood and Glenn Maxwell. This added to Australia’s bowling strength which is clearly on display in the English innings.
Australia were pushed to bat first, as this time English pacers Potts and Stone geared up with their pace as they got rid of the Australian top-order early, as Head the centurion from the previous match, Short and Smith fell early. Even Labuschagne fell to the part-timer Bethell and so did Maxwell to Rashid.
The skipper Marsh with a 60 and later one-man army Alex Carey with his stunning 74 towards the back end helped Australia to crouch to a low total of 270. Following this England didn’t start very well as Starc and Hazelwood struck early alongside Aaron Hardie’s 2 in the same over as he removed Duckett who was showing great impact and Livingstone on his very consecutive deliveries.
The Aussie spinners, however, pulled the game later on as Maxwell and Zampa delivered in Australia’s favour as the men in yellow from the Kangaroo islands left the arch-rivals England behind in securing a second win early on in the series. Hazelwood got rid of the set Jamie Smith in his second spell and Maxwell stunned with a 2-15 from his 6-overs alongside Starc who was a pick of the bowlers with his comeback figures of 3-50, when England collapsed for a 202, as now Australia lead by a healthy 2-0 overs the hosts.
ALSO READ: AFG vs SA: Afghanistan creates history, wins ODI series against South Africa
