England beats Australia in a thriller to seal the series
On a day when England’s football team was drubbed by arch-rivals Germany in the FIFA World Cup 2010, the English cricket team provided some respite to their nation when they defeated another traditional foe Australia in a thrilling encounter. England clinched the series with an unassailable lead of 3-0 in the 5 match ODI series.
England romped home with only a wicket to spare as they chased Australia’s modest total of 212 in a thrilling run-chase. Graeme Swann was the man of moment for the English team as his four wicket haul became the basis of Australia’s batting collapse in the match. Australia were eyeing victory at one point as they had dismissed six English batsmen for just 18 runs in the later part of the English innings. But England’s lower order kept its nerve to coast England to an ODI series victory over Australia in many years. With this victory, England has successfully established its dominance over Australia in all forms of cricket. With the T20 World Championship already in the pocket, this victory was the last nail in the coffin for Australia as far as their rivalry with England is concerned.
England won the toss and gave Australia the opportunity to bat first. Australia started the innings in confident fashion, knowing well about the significance of this match in the series. English bowlers Bresnan and Luke Wright were smashed to all corners of the ground by the Aussie openers in the opening spell. Bresnan was whacked for four fours in one over by Tim Paine where. Shane Watson on the other hand smashed 14 runs of a Luke Wright over. Captain Andrew Strauss realized that they needed to change the pace of the game if they wanted to survive the match. He introduced Michael Yardy in the 14th over who made an immediate impression by removing Tim Paine. Paine scored 44 runs from 48 deliveries to lift the mood in the Australian dressing room. However, Swann’s introduction lead to many problems for the Aussie batsmen as captain Ricky Ponting was sent back to the pavilion in no time.
Watson kept resisting on Australia’s behalf as he completed his second consecutive half century. Nevertheless, Shane Watson as usual failed to capitalize on a steady start to make a bigger score as he was removed by Swann for 68. With the dismissal of Watson, Australia kept losing their wickets on regular intervals. Swann removed the hard-hitting Cameron White with the help of Strauss, who took a brilliant catch. Michael Clarke consolidated for the Aussies but Swann’s spin blew him away when he was sent back packing for 33. Hussey followed Clarke as he was bowled by a Collingwood off-cutter.
With the main Australian batsmen back in the hut, the English captain made a crucial decision to bring in a fast bowler to wrap up the Australian innings. James Anderson did the job for his captain as he took three wickets in the dying minutes of the Australian innings to restrict them to a modest 212.
With a low target to chase, the English batsmen started confidently as they cruised against the Australian bowlers in the early part of the English innings. England at one stage was coasting to a comfortable victory when a sensational collapse in the batting order brought the Aussies right back into the match. England was sitting pretty at 185 for 3 with 9 overs remaining. In a bowling blitz, England lost 6 wickets for 18 run in the gap of 38 balls. This brought the Aussies back into the match as they tightened the screws on the English team.
The catalyst for such a dramatic collapse was Eoin Morgan’s dismissal who was the mainstay in the English middle order. With Morgan’s dismissal by Stephen Smith, the Aussies became confident in the field. They removed Strauss, Wright, Kieswetter, Yardy, Swann and Broad to get back into the match. But it was the heroics of Bresnan, who smashed two boundaries in three balls in the last over to take England to safety. Bresnan was the last man standing as he fought bravely against the gruelling pace of Shaun Tait. But it was his boundary against Hopes in the last over of the match which brought some ecstasy to the football mourning English fans.
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