NatWest Series: England aiming to win 5th ODI against Australia
World Champions Australia have finally succeeded in avoiding a 5-0 whitewash against their “Ashes Rival” England, narrowing down the deficit to 3-1. Australia’s level-headed batting handed lead them to victory against an ominous-looking England side in the 4th ODI of the NatWest Series. It was a matter of too little, too late but the victory has aided the kangaroos to restore their lost pride.
Surprisingly, over the past few months, England’s cricket team has performed exceptionally well in one-day international cricket. After their thumping win in the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean in May, Australia managed to break England’s nine consecutive one-day international wins by defeating them at the Oval.
England, after winning the toss decided to bowl first. Australia held a tight grip on the match from the start. Australia’s opening stand could not give a good start, but contributions from two men in the middle-order helped Australia set the highest target of the series with a score of 290 for the loss of 5 wickets.
Captain Ricky Ponting led his side from the front by scoring a brisk 92 off 93 deliveries with the help of ten boundaries. The captain was ably supported by Michael Clarke who was magnificent with the bat as he played an unbeaten innings of 99 runs from 106 balls. Clarke’s 99 included seven boundaries as well. Both Ponting and Clarke earned 156 runs for the 3rd wicket stand. The mammoth partnership came to an end when the captain was caught by Strauss on Michael Anderson’s delivery.
The English pace attack failed to threaten the Australian batting line like the way they had in the last three matches at Rose bowl, Sophia Gardens and Old Trafford. Anderson was the most expensive English bowler in the match as he conceded 66 runs in his quota of 10 over’s. He was followed by Tim Bresnan with an economy rate of 5.77 runs per over. England’s bowlers were quite generous to the visitors as they conceded 14 extras as well.
England’s batting line wilted under pressure as the openers went cheaply. The hosts kept on losing their wickets at regular intervals which slowed down the run-rate. Due to a sluggish batting performance, the required rate soared to 9 runs per over at one point in the match. England lost its first wicket in the 8th over at a score of 37, when Kieswetter was bowled by Harris. Pietersen came to help Strauss but failed to impress as he was sent back to the pavilion after adding only eight runs to England’s score card. Captain Strauss was the third man to lose his wicket in the 13th over when he was caught behind on Tait’s late swinging delivery. He scored 37 runs with the help of five boundaries off 45 deliveries.
Only Michael Yardy, who came at number six, was successful in scoring against the bowling line of Australia. Yardy batted well after partnerships with Eoin Morgan and Tim Bresnan offered a sniff of a hope to his side. Yardy’s resistance came to an end when Bollinger castled him in the 42nd over.
Australia’s bowling line was very economical. Harris was the most successful bowler for Australia as he took five wickets by conceding only 32 runs in 8.4 over’s. It was his third five wicket haul in a career spanning over just sixteen matches. Shaun Tait along with Doug Bollinger did not give anything away and bowled a nagging line and length. Shaun Tait, after a sensational return in Sunday’s match, was the most economical bowler, conceding only 23 runs in 7 overs at 3.28 runs per over.
The hosts, after winning the first three games in a row, took the World Champions lightly in yesterday’s game and faced the ultimate consequence. “It wasn’t as good a performance as the first three, and we’ve got what we’ve deserved”, said the captain of the English side. If England wants the series to end at 4-1, they must come out in the last game at Lord’s on Saturday with the same winning approach that they had in the first three games.
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