Australia vs England 2nd ODI – 5 Talking Points

Australia’s struggle in the limited-overs series against England continued as opener Aaron Finch’s another century went in vain for the second time in a row. Australian openers gave them a great start but English bowlers, especially the spinners dried the runs in the middle overs. Finch and Marsh combined for a brilliant 85-run stand. The former fell after completing his 10th ODI hundred and after his wicket, the Australian innings could never get going. Wood and Woakes too bowled brilliantly and restricted the innings to 270 runs.

Last match’s centurion, Jason Roy failed to make an impact in the run-chase this time around as he got out early. But contributions from the middle order and then a late cameo from Chris Woakes was all England needed to get over the line. Let us go through the 5 talking points of the game.

1. Two debutants for Australia 

Alex Carey, the star batsman from Adelaide Strikers was handed an ODI debut in the game. Carey on the back of his brilliant run with the bat for the Strikers made his way to the side replacing injured Tim Paine. Along with Carey, 21-year-old Jhye Richardson was also handed an ODI cap as Australia rested Pat Cummins for the match.

2. Finch gets his 2nd Ton in as many games

Aaron Finch, the Australian opener who scored a brilliant century in the first game continued his red-hot form in the 2nd ODI as well and smashed his 2nd consecutive hundred of the series. This was Finch’s 10th ODI hundred. He became the 5th quickest in terms of fewer innings taken to reach 10-century mark. His knock was the backbone of the Australian innings that crumbled soon after his dismissal.

3. Steve Smith’s ODI form

Australia skipper Steve Smith amassed runs at will during the Ashes. But the 27-year-old has failed to replicate his Test performance in the limited-overs series. He failed to convert his start at the Gabba as well when part-time spinner Joe Root wrapped him in front of the stumps. Smith managed 23 runs in the first ODI. Here in the 2nd, he fell for just 18 runs.

4. Spinners making difference

Australia didn’t play a regular spinner in the match while England had Aadil Rashid as a specialist in the team. To support Rashid, Moeen Ali and Joe Root were available to roll their arms.

Eventually, the spinners made a huge difference among the two sides as England’s Moeen and Root bowled 14 overs between them and picked up 3 wickets. They spent the runs at an economy of 4.42, giving just 62 runs. Rashid was slightly expensive as he gave 71 runs in his 10 overs but picked up two wickets and broke a strong partnership between Mitchell Marsh and Aaron Finch.

For Australia, Travis Head and centurion Finch bowled 10 overs together and gave away 62 runs without any success. They failed to put any pressure on the English batters during the run chase.

5. Middle order contribution the difference between the side

Australian openers David Warner and Finch provided a strong opening stand for the hosts as they put on a 68-run partnership. After the wicket of Warner, the middle order could not build any strong contribution. Mitchell Marsh’s 36 off 43 deliveries was the only innings apart from openers made any difference. Travis Head, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis couldn’t make a lot of difference. Cameron White struggled for his 15 runs which came off 21 balls at the fag end of the innings where the Australians were looking for quick runs.

It was opposite for England during the run chase. Last game’s hero Jason Roy failed but the middle order batters did their responsibility amazingly well to take the side towards the victory. Bairstow along with Alex Hales put on a 117-run stand and both completed their half-centuries before getting out. Root took the responsibility of anchoring the innings while the likes of Jos Buttler, captain Eoin Morgan, and Chris Woakes went after the bowling.