CT 2017, Match 10, AUS v ENG – England Player Ratings

It was an all-important clash of the Group A of the ICC Champions Trophy where the world champions Australia locked horns with the hosts England at Cardiff. It was the final match of the group and a lot was at stake on the outcome. England had already qualified for the semi-finals and Australia needed a win to get there. A loss would have meant them crashing out and resulting in Bangladesh making it to the next round.

Eoin Morgan won the toss and asked the Aussies to have a bat. They got off to a decent start with the openers adding 40 runs. After David Warner’s dismissal, Aaron Finch and Steven Smith added 96 runs for the 2nd wicket. But post their departures, they lost wickets at regular intervals and lost the momentum. A fighting 71 from Travis Head propelled them to a fighting 277/9 at the end of 50 overs.

In reply, England got off to a poor start and were down to 35/3 in the 6th over. The Australians were all over the hosts but a rain interruption hampered their momentum. Eoin Morgan and Ben Stokes went on the counter-attack and swung the match in their side. A 154-run partnership meant that the side was in a position of safety. Morgan made 87 whereas Stokes went to on to score a hundred.

When the English side reached 240/4 after 40.2 overs, the heavens opened up and the players had to walk off. There was no further play possible and England found themselves 40 runs ahead of the DLS par score. As a result, England won the match by knocking out the mighty Aussies and gave a lifeline to Bangladesh who became the second side to qualify from the group A.

Here’s how the Englishmen performed in the match:

Jason Roy – 2/10

The opening batsman has had a poor run in the tournament and in this match as well, he failed to come good. Roy struck the first ball of the innings down the ground for a boundary. But was struck on the pad by Mitchell Starc off the next ball to which the umpire raised his finger and he had to make the long walk back.

Alex Hales – 1/10

Hales has had 2 good scores in the tournament but he suffered his first failure here. After Roy’s dismissal, he was the 2nd wicket to fall in the innings. One must say, he encountered a peach from Josh Hazlewood that took the edge and went to Finch at first slip and the batsman departed for a duck.

Joe Root – 3/10

The man in form walked out to bat in the very first over. After 2 wonderful games, he was the major threat for Australia. But this time, he couldn’t replicate the performances from previous matches and got out to Hazlewood as he edged one to the keeper at 15 off 14 balls.

Eoin Morgan – 8.5/10

The skipper found himself at the crease when his side was reeling at 6/2 which later worsened to 35/3. In the situation of crisis, he stood up and inflicted a counter-attack. Morgan scored 87 off 81 balls with 8 fours and 5 sixes. Just as he was getting closer to the three-figure mark, he got run out in the 32nd over but not before he had put his side on the verge of a victory.

Ben Stokes – 9/10

With the ball, he was a touch expensive and conceded 61 runs in 8 overs but managed to bag the prized scalp of Aaron Finch. His major contribution arrived with the bat where he scored a splendid hundred. He stayed unbeaten at 102 off 109 balls with 13 fours and 2 sixes. Stokes was adjudged the Man of the Match for his match-winning effort.

Jos Buttler – 6/10

The wicket-keeper batsman walked in at the fall of Eoin Morgan when the score read 194/4 with 84 runs still required from 109 balls. The job was far from over and he had a well set Stokes at the other end. Buttler made a steady 29 not out off 32 balls and took his side to a position of victory.

Moeen Ali – 4.5/10

Unlike the last game, the off-spinner got a chance to bowl in this fixture. He bowled 5 overs in which he gave away 24 runs and didn’t manage to pick up any wickets. Moeen wasn’t required to bat as the batsmen above him did the job.

Adil Rashid – 8/10

The leg-spinner had a big role to play in the match and he totally lived up to the expectations. Rashid bagged figures of 41/4 in 10 overs including a maiden. He accounted for the wickets of Moises Henriques, Matthew Wade, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins and broke the back of the Australian batting line-up.

Liam Plunkett – 4/10

The fast bowler had a wonderful time in the previous 2 matches where he took back to back four-wicket hauls. But in this match, he didn’t enjoy the same run of form. He bowled 8 overs and was a touch expensive giving away 49 runs without picking up a wicket.

Mark Wood – 8.5/10

Wood ended up being the pick of the bowlers and did a mighty fine job with the new ball, during the middle stage as well as at the death. He got the wickets of David Warner, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell and Adam Zampa to finish with excellent figures of 33/4 in 10 overs with a maiden.

Jake Ball – 3.5/10

Where other bowlers did a great job, Ball suffered an off day. He was targetted by the Australian batsmen and he ended up conceding 61 runs from 9 overs. The kind of performance his side put up, his slight dip in form didn’t impact the outcome of the match.