Australia win by 49 runs (DLS) and win the series 3-2
Mother Nature has beaten Mother Cricket, and Australia have beaten England to win the ODI series. It was an odd game, played with half an eye on the weather, but in the end Australia were emphatic winners.
Their spinners squeezed the life out of England, who slipped from 202 for 2 in the 25th over to 260 for 8 and then 309 all out. Travis Head took four wickets, then got Australia off to a flyer alongside Matthew Short. It soon become apparent that only rain could save England; it arrived five balls too late with Australia well ahead on DLS.
Still drizzling at the County Ground. They’re not coming back, folks.
The covers are going back on
Go away, it’s raining again.
The covers are coming off
Erm, come back! The umpires are going to inspect at 5.10pm, and if there’s no further rain* play will provisionally resume at 5.30pm.
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“Ho hum,” says Phil Harrison “Another year, another England 2-2 Australia; Australia saved by the rain... Standard.”
Erm, you know they’re winning 3-2 as it stands? Have I Just been whooshed?
It’s still hammering down, so my advice is to follow one of the other 48 live blogs we have on the go. There’s very little chance of any more play at Bristol.
Rain stops play
20.4 overs: Australia 165-2 (Smith 36, Inglis 28) Adil Rashid returns to the attack and is pulled for four by Smith when he drops short. England have been hammered, which looked unlikely when Harry Brook was smashing Adam Zampa for six sixes in nine balls earlier in the day.
The rain has arrived, five balls too late for England, and that will probably be it for the day. It’s good that Australia got to 20 overs as they thoroughly deserve to win this game. England’s attempt to waste time was shabby but at least they didn’t stoop too low.
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Australia lead by 45 runs on DLS
20th over: Australia 158-2 (Smith 31, Inglis 27) England have lacked concentration and intensity in the field, and I suspect they thought this game would be rained off.
Inglis hits Carse for successive sixes, a smooth pull and a top-edged hook over fine leg. We now have a game, whatever happens with the weather, and England need probably three wickets before it rains. Might as well get the slips in.
19th over: Australia 144-2 (Smith 30, Inglis 14) Olly Stone returns to the attack and is belted for a couple of boundaries by Inglis. Australia are nearly there now; barring something biblical, the umpires will surely complete the 20th over before taking the players off.
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18th over: Australia 133-2 (Smith 29, Inglis 4) Potts manfully completes the over. Maybe I’m being harsh and it was a genuine injury. Maybe.
17.4 overs: Australia 133-2 (Smith 29, Inglis 4) Potts replaces Rashid, either to slow the game down or because Potts is more likely to dismiss Smith. He was sitting on Rashid fairly comfortably.
The forecast for this evening is abysmal, so once the players go off there is almost no chance of any more play.
Potts calls for a change of boot after four balls. Nah, come on, this is really poor from England. They’ve spent the last few years atop the moral high ground so it’s not a great look to stoop to this nonsense in an attempt to save a bilateral ODI series.
“We’ve seen this movie before…” says Ricky Ponting on Sky, referring to the Cardiff Test of 2009.
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Play is about to resume. England need two wickets in the next three overs to be ahead on DLS.
17th over: Australia 132-2 (Smith 28, Inglis 4) Smith emerges from his bunker to pick Carse up over backward square leg for six. That’s a brilliant stroke, although with time running out – the groundstaff are poised – it might be better to push every delivery straight back to the bowler.
And now, with rain imminent and Australia three overs away from victory, it’s time for a drinks break. Regulations 1-0 Commonsense.
16th over: Australia 125-2 (Smith 21, Inglis 4) No sign of England trying to slow the game down. Rashid hasn’t played Test cricket for a while but this is essentially a mini Test match, with Smith focussing almost entireley on survival. Two singles from the over.
15th over: Australia 123-2 (Smith 20, Inglis 3) Carse, on for Potts, rushes one past Inglis’s attempted forcing shot. Hang on, he nicked it! England barely appealed and didn’t even discuss a review. Oh well.
One run from the over. Smith has gone into defensive mode, knowing Australia will win if we get to 20 overs and they are only two wickets down.
14th over: Australia 122-2 (Smith 20, Inglis 2) Four singles from Rashid’s over. More importantly for Australia, it only took two or three minutes; they’re now six overs away from a series win.
13th over: Australia 118-2 (Smith 18, Inglis 0) I think the rain is going to have the final word but England will be back in the game if they can take two more quick wickets. If Australia are four down after 20 overs the DLS par score will be 158.
WICKET! Australia 118-2 (Short c Smith b Potts 54)
Well bowled Matthew Potts. Short had punched the previous ball for four, a terrific stroke through extra cover, and tried to repeat the shot. Potts found just enough seam movement to take a thin edge through to Jamie Smith.
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12th over: Australia 113-1 (Short 54, Smith 17) Adil Rashid, England’s likeliest source of wickets on this pitch, comes into the attack. I know he doesn’t like bowling in the Powerplay but in this unique situation England sure missed a trick by holding him back.
Anyway, here he is. He starts with a teasing legbreak that turns sharply to beat Short, who looks nowhere near as comfortable against spin. A fine over – only two from it – ends with Short inside-edging safely on the leg side.
11th over: Australia 111-1 (Short 53, Smith 16) Carse replaces Stone and is smoked over midwicket for six by Short. That takes him to a blistering 23-ball fifty, facilitated by some, a-hem, imperfect bowling from England.
The rest of Carse’s over is good, with two runs from the other five deliveries. The problem is that Australia are around 50 ahead of the DLS par score, so England need wickets plural.
From Cricbuzz - most runs as captain in a bilateral ODI series vs Australia:
— Ali Martin (@Cricket_Ali) September 29, 2024
312 - Harry Brook (England, 2024)
310 - Virat Kohli (India, 2019)
285 - MS Dhoni (India, 2009)
278 - Eoin Morgan (England, 2015)
276 - Babar Azam (Pakistan, 2022)
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10th over: Australia 103-1 (Short 46, Smith 15) Smith drives Potts wide of mid-off for four. It was in the air for a while but expertly placed.
Potts has troubled Smith in this series, though, and he nips another one back to hit Smith high on the leg. Short ends the over with a clip to fine leg for four: Australia have scored 103 in the Powerplay.
REVIEW! Australia 93-1 (Smith not out 10)
Potts has changed ends to replace Carse, which is a bit of a strange decision. And a brilliant one: Potts has struck first ball! Smith played all around a full delivery that came back off the seam to hit him in front.
Smith reviews the decision - and replays show the ball would have missed leg stump! Turns out it did too much off the seam, even from such a full length.
9th over: Australia 93-1 (Short 42, Smith 10) Olly Stone starts a new spell with a loosener that Smith cuts easily for four. Short fresh-airs an attempted pull before chipping mid-off for four. It teased Brook but eventually cleared him fairly comfortably.
The latest forecast is for the rain to begin in 40 minutes. Then there’s around 15 minutes of light rain, then the heavy stuff. It’ll be interesting to see what England do if they are facing certain defeat and the umpires ask them to finish the game in the rain. Hopefully Harry Brook will channel his inner Keith Miller and keep the players out there.
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8th over: Australia 84-1 (Short 38, Smith 5) Steve Smith is this close to dragging his first delivery back onto the stumps. His second is a wide, and he edges the third wide of slip for four. An excellent start from Carse, who has shown a lot of promise in these white-ball series.
“Watching on telly from a wet and windy morning in Manhattan (looks like similar weather to Bristol),” says Thomas Walker. “Loving this early Aussie onslaught, but is seems ridiculously easy to reach the boundary on this ground; is it actually that small? How does it compare to other fields around the world? I’m intentionally not calling it a ‘stadium’ because it literally looks like someone’s backyard.”
Vic Marks was saying on TMS earlier that the playing area is much smaller than it was in his day. I think the straight boundaries are particularly short.
WICKET! Australia 78-1 (Head c Salt b Carse 31)
Travis Head slaps Brydon Carse’s first ball straight to cover. It was a slightly odd shot, a flamboyant back-foot drive that was never likely to clear Phil Salt. That’s an important wicket for England, partly because it’s Head and also because it will increase Australia’s DLS target if we get 20 overs.
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7th over: Australia 78-0 (Short 38, Head 32) A chance goes begging. Short, trying to hoick Potts over midwicket, sliced the ball miles in the air towards Rashid at short third man. The ball swirled horribly in the breeze and Rashid couldn’t lay a hand on it. To compound his misery, it bounced up to hit him flush in the coupon.
Short edges a boundary wide of Rashid before pulling flat and hard for six. It’s brilliant batting but I’ve no idea why England keep feeding his favourite shot.
“Silly question to ask given the anti-draw Bazball philosophy,” begins David Howell, “but could England plausibly speed up/slow down the over rate to increase/decrease the chances of getting to 20 overs based on who would win? Because it really could be that marginal from the radar forecast I’m seeing...”
Both teams could if they wanted, yeah, but I don’t think they will. It might be different if it was a World Cup final.
6th over: Australia 66-0 (Short 27, Head 31) Harry Brook gambles by introducing Will Jacks in the Powerplay. It doesn’t quite pay off: Head has hammered him for 20 runs. He drove four through extra cover, blasted six over mid-off and then pulled another over mid-on. A withering cut for four completed the marmalisation.
5th over: Australia 46-0 (Short 27, Head 11) Six more to Short, slugged over square leg and out of the ground off the bowling of Potts. He is such a good puller, so goodness knows why England are feeding him. Potts does it again next ball and is dragged through midwicket for four more.
Potts adjusts his length after that and is a bit unfortunate when Short thick-edges another boundary. He has 27 from 13 balls and Australia have belted 30 from the last two overs.
4th over: Australia 32-0 (Short 13, Head 11) Olly Stone’s second over disappears for 16. Head clipped him to fine leg for four, then Short pummelled consecutive short balls for four through the covers and six over midwicket.
The forecast has improved slightly, so it’ll be touch and go whether they get 20 overs in.
3rd over: Australia 16-0 (Short 2, Head 7) Potts goes around the wicket in an attempt to cramp Head for room. He does it very well at first, then errs and is punished with four leg-byes. After scoring two from his first 12 balls – I know – Head times an excellent first boundary past backward point.
2nd over: Australia 7-0 (Short 2, Head 2) Stone has a strangled shout for LBW when Short pushes around a good nipbacker. Too high. England have started pretty well, with Stone, as he has all summer, bowling an excellent line.
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1st over: Australia 4-0 (Short 2, Head 1) Australia’s DLS target depends on how many wickets they lose; we’ll keep you posted on that if the innings gets close to 20 overs.
Travis Head plays a couple of nice strokes in Matthew Potts’ first over without beating the infield. Three singles and a leg-bye from the over.
Right, here we go: Mother Cricket v Mother Nature. The forecast is for rain in about an hour, but if it holds off for around 90 minutes we should get a game.
“A four-wicket haul and a century must be enough for a man of the match award,” writes Krishnamoorthy V, “right?”
Ben Duckett doesn’t bowl, does he?
Thanks Tim, afternoon everyone. In the first 142 years of international cricket there was only one 2-2 draw between England and Australia, a ding-dong affair in 1972. Since then there have been two more, in the Ashes series of 2019 and 2023, and we’re facing a third at Bristol today.
If the weather forecast is correct, there won’t be enough time to bowl the 20 overs needed for a result, and I doubt even Travis Head can knock off a target of 310 in 15 overs. It’s dry in Bristol right now, so the runchase will begin at 3pm, but the apocalypse is imminent.
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That was fascinating. Ben Duckett was steady, Phil Salt flamboyant and Harry Brook sensational, but the Australians have far more experience than this England side and it began to tell at the halfway mark. Steve Smith, back in his old job, gave a masterclass in managing part-time spinners on a small ground.
If England can get Travis Head early, they will have a good chance. But the most likely winner is probably the rain, followed by the Aussies. That’s it from me for another season. Thanks for your company, correspondence and thoughts on whether England should declare. Our own master, Rob Smyth, will be along soon.
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WICKET! Rashid c Labuschagne b Head 36 (England 309 all out)
Rashid’s excellent innings comes to an end as Head collects his fourth wicket. He finishes with 4-28, but the last-wicket stand raised 33 and lifted England past 300. What an entertaining innings.
49th over: England 308-9 (Rashid 36, Stone 8) Smith keeps Connolly on and Rashid sees a chance. He cuts the first ball for four and whips the second for four more. The crowd give him the acclaim he deserves.
48th over: England 292-9 (Rashid 27, Stone 7) Smith turns back to his big gun, Head, but the batters do well, milking him for singles.
“England have managed to stage a tale of two innings in just the one, switching from total domination to utter capitulation,” says Colum Fordham. “Great batting from Duckett and Brook and wonderful spin bowling from Messrs Zampa. Maxwell and Head. Hope the weather permits some sort of Australian innings so we have a proper decider.
”Great idea to have a 5 match ODI series in England in September. Sheer Genius.” Colum, you’re an old friend of the OBO, but I’m not sure about that last point. A five-match series is a great idea, and even if the weather has the last word, it’s been good enough for us to enjoy a pulsating series.
47th over: England 292-9 (Rashid 25, Stone 4) Big enough to admit his mistake, Smith takes Starc off after one over and shows some faith in Cooper Connolly, the one spinner to struggle today. The batters take three singles.
46th over: England 289-9 (Rashid 24, Stone 3) A few minutes ago Smith was bullish enough to have a short leg, but now, as Maxwell bowls his last over, there’s no catcher in place. “Very defensive field,” scoffs Eoin Morgan. Maxwell concedes four runs and finishes with a thrifty 10-0-49-2.
45th over: England 285-9 (Rashid 22, Stone 1) When you have eight bowlers and there’s only one wicket left to take, you can do whatever you like at the death. Smith, reverting to orthodoxy, brings back Mitch Starc. Rashid says thanks very much, glides the first ball for four and clips another for two. Nine off the over – a glimmer of joy at last for England.
44th over: England 276-9 (Rashid 14, Stone 0) England have made 74-7 off the last 19.1 overs. And Mike Atherton has spotted some drizzle on one of the Sky cameras. It never rains…
WICKET! Potts c Inglis b Maxwell 6 (England 276-9)
Matt Potts, who has no fear with bat or ball, tries a reverse sweep. He gets a thin edge and Inglis does well to hold onto it.
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43rd over: England 273-8 (Rashid 12, Potts 5) Just as Ricky Ponting notes that England haven’t scored a boundary for ages, Rashid pulls Zampa for four, one leggie to another. It’s the first four since the 27th over, when Duckett played that delicate paddle (though he added a six later).
In other news, the sky has darkened and the lights have come on. The Aussies have to bat for 20 overs for there to be a result – or knock off the runs in less than that, which is just conceivable with Head in this mood.
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42nd over: England 266-8 (Rashid 6, Potts 4) Travis Head is finding turn from the Graeme Swann line outside off, and his figures are superb (5-0-22-3). I keep giving Smith credit for handling his part-time spinners so well, but maybe he messed up by not putting Head on earlier.
41st over: England 264-8 (Rashid 5, Potts 3) Zampa keeps it tight. The run-rate for the innings is still over 6, but the force is with the Aussies.
40th over: England 261-8 (Rashid 4, Potts 1) Carse had just managed a good shot, a lap for two. But the moment belongs to Travis Head. not content with being a lethal opening bat, he now has three for 20 off four overs. Not bad for the eighth bowler.
WICKET! Carse LBW b Head 9 (England 260-8)
The procession continues. Head goes over the wicket, turns his off-break, hits the pad and gets the verdict from the umpire. Carse reviews more in hope than expectation and up come the three reds.
39th over: England 255-7 (Carse 6, Rashid 3) The first half of this innings was Bazball. The last hour has been more like Brearley and Boycott in 1979.
38th over: England 253-7 (Carse 5, Rashid 2) Seeing the need for experience, England have sent out Adil Rashid. He can bat and so can Brydon Carse, but it’s as if the Aussies have an extra man now, and his name is Mo Mentum.
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England have collapsed
One ball short of halfway, England were 202-2 with Brook playing like a prince. Since then they’ve lost five wickets for 48 off 12.3 overs. And all to the Australian spinners, who have been marshalled quite masterfully by Steve Smith.
WICKET! Bethell st Inglis b Head 13 (England 250-6)
Head is on fire! He goes even slower, draws Bethell forward, beats him with some turn and lets Inglis do the rest.
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37th over: England 248-6 (Bethell 13, Carse 4) Zampa keeps the pressure on by conceding only three. In the last ten overs, Nasser Hussain reveals, there has been just one boundary. That was the six Duckett hit off Head – and it was a price worth paying for the Aussies, who got him out next ball.
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36th over: England 245-6 (Bethell 12, Carse 2) Another good over from Head, such a great competitor. He now has 2-0-9-1.
35th over: England 242-6 (Bethell 10, Carse 1) Short is taken off, after two tidy overs, now that there are no longer two left-handers for him to bother. Smith brings back Zampa, who goes for five – two of them to Bethell with a stylish cut. He has the talent and temperament for the task, but he doesn’t have the experience. That’s where the Aussies have the edge, even with a few injuries.
34th over: England 238-6 (Bethell 7, Carse 0) That was a blunder from Duckett, who surely needed to stick around to run the show. But it was a triumph for Steve Smith, who got a big wicket out of his eighth bowler – and fifth spinner.
WICKET!!! Duckett c Hazlewood b Head 107 (England 238-6)
This is a big, big moment. Duckett lofts Head for six, tries to do it again and can only send a chip to long-off, where Hazlewood makes no mistake.
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33rd over: England 231-5 (Duckett 101, Bethell 6) Another good over for the Aussies as Short restricts each of these left-handers to a single. And that’s drinks, with Messrs Ebb and Flow having plenty to say. Off the last 7.1 overs, it’s been 29 for three. But Duckett is still there and he’s made a few 150s in his time, albeit in Tests.
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32nd over: England 229-5 (Duckett 100, Bethell 5) That was a lovely moment for Duckett but a good over from Maxwell, who went for just a single and beat Bethell with a snorter that could well have removed the leg bail.
A hundred to Ben Duckett!
Duckett needs only a single now and he finds it with a push into the covers. He goes to 100 off 86 balls with 13 fours and a six. He has played second fiddle twice today, to both Salt and Brook, but he’s the main man now. It’s his second ODI century, his second at Bristol, and possibly his second in a match destined to be ruined by rain.
31st over: England 228-5 (Duckett 99, Bethell 5) With Bethell in, England have two left-handers. Smith takes tghe chance to bring on Matthew Short, so it’s offies at both ends. Short makes a decent start, going for four singles.
“The best ODI teams,” says Mike Jakeman, “would bat out these overs and get a truly mammoth score. Will England be able to reduce the risks they take so that they keep some wickets intact? (I doubt it, but I’d love it if they did.)” Great question. But given the forecast, they might be better off continuing on their merry way – which, if we know anything about them, is what they will do regardless.
30th over: England 224-5 (Duckett 97, Bethell 3) Carnage at one end, serenity at the other as Duckett makes his way towards a hundred. A pull for two off Maxwell takes him past the 95 he made in the first game of this series.
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29th over: England 218-5 (Duckett 93, Bethell 1) Zampa, who is a white-ball champion, has turned an embarrassment into an unlikely triumph, from 2-0-30-0 to 5-0-54-2.
“Just curious,” says Nick Parish. “Are these the Boring Middle Overs?” Love it.
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WICKET! Livingstone c Inglis b Zampa 0 (England 216-5)
Gone! Zampa finds some lift and turn with his leg-break and Livingstone, neither forward nor back, can only nick it. The game has turned round in no time.
28th over: England 215-4 (Duckett 90, Livingstone 0) Liam Livingstone is a formidable hitter but he’s a bit apt to complain about not getting much time in the middle. Well, he’s got 22 overs now, weather permitting. And he’s in form after that rip-roaring 62 at Lord’s.
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WICKET! Smith b Maxwell 6 (England 215-4)
One brings two! This is like Salt’s dismissal, in slow motion: Maxwell finds just enough turn to beat Smith through the gate.
27th over: England 211-3 (Duckett 90, Smith 3) Zampa continues and Duckett plays a delicious little paddle over his shoulder. Josh Inglis, seeing it coming, jumps across to do a Sarah Taylor but it just gets past him and goes for four.
“Can you declare in an ODI?” asked Tom van der Gucht, before Brook was out. “If England were fully embracing Bazball, they would go hell for leather (promoting Livingstone if another wicket falls) and aim to get to 250 then declare. The rain is due around 2.30. So, Australia could go for it with the safety blanket of the rain if they get into trouble, but also could get rolled over if they get trigger happy.” As Buzz Lightyear said, I like your thinking, Sheriff. It’s Buzzball!
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26th over: England 204-3 (Duckett 85, Smith 1) In comes Jamie Smith, who likes to play himself in, and Maxwell gets through an over for just two singles. He’s done a decent job: 5-0-31-0.
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25th over: England 202-3 (Duckett 84) Steve Smith decided the time was right to bring back Zampa, and may have regretted it as Brook hit the first two balls of the over for six – a straight drive, then a slog-sweep off a full toss. Zampa fought back well, showed some guts and floated the last ball up, luring Brook into a skyer to long-off. But that was still a fabulous knock from Brook, who added 72 off 52 balls to his 110* and 87.
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WICKET! Brook c Maxwell b Zampa 72 (England 202-3)
The big one!
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24th over: England 188-2 (Duckett 83, Brook 59) Duckett swings Maxwell back over his head for six. It’s all going swimmingly for England – but …
“From here in west Cornwall,” says Gregor Salsa, “I can report that the rain has been hammering down since at least 7am. Driven by 40-50mph winds.
“The wind has dropped a bit. It’s merely drenching rain now. So it should be at Bristol around 4pm. I’d start the DLS calculations.”
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23rd over: England 177-2 (Duckett 74, Brook 58) Connolly, who was taken off after conceding 12 in his first over, returns and does well apart from one ball, which Duckett pulls for four.
22nd over: England 171-2 (Duckett 68, Brook 57) Maxwell continues and thinks he’s done well, going for a few singles, until the last ball. Brook switches his hands, chip-sweeps it over cover point, gets four and brings up the hundred partnership – 101 off 80 balls. It’s been thrilling stuff.
21st over: England 163-2 (Duckett 66, Brook 51) Smith thinks better of his all-spin menu and dishes up some sfast-medium from Hardie. As when he started his first spell, he takes some punishment, pulled for four by Duckett, then whipped for six by Brook.
I’m not sure which is faster, Brook’s eye or his hands, but the combination can be exhilarating. That whip takes him to a third successive fifty, off 39 balls with two fours and five sixes. And he began by playing himself in!
20th over: England 151-2 (Duckett 61, Brook 44) Duckett, in the mood now, cuts Maxwell for four. Phil Salt played so well today, yet he’s probably behind Duckett in the race to be Jos Buttler’s opening partner for the Champions Trophy in Pakistan in February.
19th over: England 144-2 (Duckett 55, Brook 43) What would you if your star spinner had gone for 30 off two overs? Smith takes Zampa off and turns to his third spinner, Cooper Connolly, the slow left-armer making his ODI debut. The batters take half an over to have a look at him and then Duckett tucks in. A dance down the track brings a drop-kick four and takes him to fifty off 45 balls. He celebrates with a reverse slog-sleep for four more. “His head,” says Eoin Morgan, “is so still.”
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18th over: England 132-2 (Duckett 45, Brook 41) The Aussies need to calm things down and Glenn Maxwell manages it, going for just four singles – quite an achievement for a first over with cold hands. But the partnership has sailed past 50. It’s 62 now off 56 balls.
Six, six, six from Brook
17th over: England 128-2 (Duckett 43, Brook 39) Zampa’s first over went for 12. His second goes for 18 – in three strokes. Brook pulls the first ball over midwicket, slog-sweeps the third into the city centre, and dances down to loft the fifth just over the man at long-on. Sensational stuff.
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16th over: England 110-2 (Duckett 43, Brook 21) Starc bowls a very good over and gets no credit for it in the scorebook. First he tests Brook’s Achilles heel with a fine bouncer, fended away for a streaky single. Then he lures Duckett into a nick that would be a simple catch for first slip if there was one. Starc’s figures, 5-0-38-0, are a travesty.
“The Australian mindset when it comes to decisive matches is something out of the orbit,” says Krish Krishnamoorthy. “Remember the WC 2023 final, facing India in a stadium of nearly 100,000 screaming local fans. And they barely broke a sweat.
“The only result I see is a 3-2 series win for Australia. (Else, I know, humble pie tastes sweet.)”
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15th over: England 102-2 (Duckett 37, Brook 19) Another bowling change as Hardie gives way to Adam Zampa for the first slow stuff of the day. The batters treat him with due respect for the first four balls, and then Brook lets rip. A late cut for four, so late it could be the work of Joe Root, and then a six as Zampa goes full and Brook belts him over long-on: two clear signs of a man in form. That’s drinks with England perhaps inching ahead again after being pegged back.
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14th over: England 90-2 (Duckett 36, Brook 8) Hazlewood gets a break at last as Starc returns for a second spell. He keeps Brook honest, restricts him to two from a square drive, and hits him on the knee with the last ball. As he takes a leg-bye, Brook is hobbling like an old man.
13th over: England 87-2 (Duckett 36, Brook 6) Hardie continues as Smith bids for a new world record for the fewest bowling changes in an autumnal ODI. Hardie beats Duckett, who retorts with a clip off the toes that nearly goes for four – well fielded by the sweeper. Hardie, who took 0-18 off his first five balls, has 2-8 off the last 19. Which is admirable, but it makes you wonder if both captains may regret going in with only three seamers.
12th over: England 83-2 (Duckett 33, Brook 5) Hazlewood is still on. Is Smith planning to bowl him out? Or does he just fancy him to take out England’s best batter? Brook finally gets off the mark, taking a single with that open face of his, and then he changes gear and plays a delicate paddle-ramp for four. Game on.
11th over: England 77-2 (Duckett 32, Brook 0) Hardie demonstrates his resilience again. Duckett hits his first ball for four with a back-foot drive, but then come five dots. The run rate, which was up at 8.75, is now 7.
“Morning Tim,” says Simon McMahon. “Athers, if I can be so bold as to call him that, studiously avoiding referring to the ‘Toblerone’ after a six from Salt that clattered straight into it, preferring ‘boundary rope’ instead. #oldschool.” Ha, yes. But it’s not a rope, is it?
10th over: England 73-2 (Duckett 28, Brook 0) Smith keeps Hazlewood on, perhaps because of Hardie’s sudden improvement. Duckett drives him for three, finding a narrow channel between cover and short extra. Harry Brook, so central to England’s resurgence in the past week, flirts with disaster as he opens the face and almost gets caught at gully. The Powerplay ends with honours just about even.
9th over: England 70-2 (Duckett 25, Brook 0) That is a wicket maiden from Aaron Hardie, and a superb comeback. His first five balls went like this: 66114. And the next seven? W…W..
WICKET! Jacks b Hardie 0 (England 70-2)
Bowled through the gate! By a ball that jagged back in from outside off.
8th over: England 70-1 (Duckett 25, Jacks 0) So an innings from Salt that could have been a classic ends up as just a very good cameo – 45 off 27 balls with five fours and three sixes. But he has set the tone for his team, who have to rattle along at a T20 pace today because the game may well end up in the hands of Duckworth-Lewis.
Duckett moves into the driving seat now, lofting Hazlewood over mid-on and then getting lucky with a big fat nick through the gap at second slip. His 25 has come off 21 balls with five fours.
WICKET! Salt c Labuschagne b Hardie 45 (England 58-1)
7th over: England 58-1 (Duckett 13) Steve Smith makes his first change, replacing Starc with Aaron Hardie. Salt pulls his first ball for six! Knowing the next ball will be fuller, he chips it into the Toblerone at long-on for six more! That brings up England’s fifty, 52 off only 38 balls. After a couple of singles, Salt makes room to cut for four with fast hands – and then gets out, caught low down by the cover sweeper as he slices a square drive.
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6th over: England 40-0 (Salt 28, Duckett 12) A graphic has just shown us that in the Powerplay, Hazlewood bowls the same length all the time – aiming for good, sometimes back-of, occasionally a touch fuller. The first ball of this over is at the short end of his range, and Duckett does well to pull it for four.
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5th over: England 34-0 (Salt 27, Duckett 7) After going a full five balls without a boundary, Salt is becoming impatient. He charges at Starc, swings the bat, slices the ball and gets six over first slip. Atherton produces another factoid: Salt plays and misses 16pc of the time, which is more than any other top-five batter in men’s ODIs, apparently. He doesn’t give a timespan but still, that’s quite a stat. And, in its way, quite a skill.
4th over: England 24-0 (Salt 18, Duckett 6) Hazlewood puts the plug in as this over goes for just a single. He even persuades Duckett to leave one.
3rd over: England 23-0 (Salt 17, Duckett 6) Starc manages three dots and two singles, one of them a leading edge from Duckett that wasn’t far from being a caught-and-bowled. But then Starc strays onto the pads and Duckett comes to the party with a lofted flick for four. On a cold day, dotted with beanie hats, it’s been a breezy start.
“Do you know if there is an overseas TMS link for today?” asks Matt Dale. “I can’t seem to find it on the BBC website.” Hoping the hive mind can help.
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2nd over: England 17-0 (Salt 16, Duckett 1) Ben Duckett gets off the mark less flamboyantly, with a nudge to leg for a single off Hazlewood. Salt is beaten again, perilously close to the off bail, as Hazlewood finds a classic length and some movement off the seam. But Salt hits back with a lofted square drive. He already has four fours, which is one more than ten of the Aussies managed at Lord’s between them (Head four, the rest three).
1st over: England 12-0 (Salt 12, Duckett 0) Well, well. Salt plays another cracking cover drive off the last ball, and in the middle he guides the ball past the slips. So this over looks like a triumph for England. But the guide was jammy – Salt seemed to be pulling the bat away – and he also played and missed, twice. So honours were actually even, whatever the scoreboard has to say.
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1st ball: England 4-0 (Salt 4, Duckett 0) In comes Mitch Starc, curls the ball back in towards off stump – and sees it fly through the covers for four as Phil Salt finds the middle of the bat. An opening gambit from the Zak Crawley handbook.
An email! “Factoid,” says Mark Hooper. Do I detect some scepticism in the air? “The latest as in the most recent? Amazing! (I know, etc)“ Ha.
A couple of factoids for you. One from Mike Atherton, so good at adding facts to all the opinions on Sky: this is the latest international game ever played in England. And one from me: it’s Steve Smith’s first outing as Australia’s captain since … February 2024, when he led them in three ODIs against West Indies.
Teams in full
England 1 Phil Salt, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Will Jacks, 4 Harry Brook (capt), 5 Jamie Smith (wkt), 6 Liam Livingstone, 7 Jacob Bethell, 8 Brydon Carse, 9 Matthew Potts, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Olly Stone.
Australia 1 Travis Head, 2 Matthew Short, 3 Steve Smith (capt), 4 Josh Inglis (wkt), 5 Marnus Labuschagne, 6 Glenn Maxwell, 7 Aaron Hardie, 8 Cooper Connolly, 9 Mitch Starc, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh Hazlewood.
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Teams in brief: no Jofra, no Carey
Jofra Archer, so good at Lord’s the other night, is overdue for a breather, so Olly Stone comes in to join Brydon Carse and Matthew Potts.
For Australia, Alex Carey and Sean Abbott join Mitch Marsh on the sidelines. Aaron Hardie and Cooper Connolly come in, so Hardie will be the third seamer, behind Mitch Starc and Josh Hazlewood, and Connolly will join Glenn Maxwell and Travis Head in the queue to fiddle through a few overs.
Australia win the toss and bowl
A grey morning, with rain around later: no captain would bat first today. It’s a big toss to win … and the Australian captain calls right. Hang on, he looks familiar – it’s Steve Smith!
It’s also the last day of the County Championship. Do keep a window open on your browser for Tanya Aldred, the queen of the county scene. Start at the bottom with a post so succinct that it may one day be held up as a model at preamble school.
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Preamble
Morning everyone and welcome to the last stop on a long and winding road. It’s the end of the home international cricket season, the final act of the drama, the fifth set of the match. It could be anything from a cliffhanger to a damp squib.
England have to beat Australia for the third time in a week to complete a barnstorming comeback. Australia have to remember how experienced they are and put these upstarts in their place. And both sides have to beat the weather, which is looking dodgy all day and downright dismal from mid-afternoon.
The captains should really meet in the middle now and agree to play a T25. But that might require a better relationship between cricket and common sense.
All being well, the toss is at 10.30am BST.
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