ENG vs AUS: 3rd ODI- Who Said What

The match between England and Australia at the Trent Bridge in Nottingham turned out to be a one-sided affair as the hosts brushed aside Tim Paine’s men by 242 runs and took an unassailable lead of 3-0 in the series. While batting, the Englishmen racked up the highest ever ODI score of 481 runs and then strangled the opponents without dropping much sweat.

Batsmen vandalize visitors

On a decent batting wicket, Paine won the toss and elected to field first. The decision didn’t work out as Johnny Bairstow and Jason Roy fired on all cylinders and put on an opening stand of 159 runs inside 20 overs. Following Roy’s run-out, Alex Hales joined Bairstow in the middle. Both batsmen compiled centuries to help their team dominate their Ashes-rivals.

Hales also notched his highest ODI score of 147 in front of his home crowd. Moreover, Eoin Morgan stole quite a bit of limelight. He notched the fastest ever fifty by an Englishman in ODIs off 21 balls. Moreover, he also became the team’s leading run scorer in ODIs, surpassing Ian Bell. From Australia’s perspective, Jhy Richardson picked up three wickets and there wasn’t anything noticeable apart from that.

A series triumph for England

The run-chase was always going to be a daunting task for the Aussies. They made an impressive start until David Willey nipped out D’Arcy Short in the fourth over. Travis Head and Shaun Marsh tried to get the innings moving with a 68-run stand. However, following a half-century, Head perished to Moeen Ali and Marsh followed suit in the tweaker’s very next over.

Aaron Finch and Marcus Stoinis built another fifty-run stand to reignite Australia’s hopes. Finch was cleaned up by Adil Rashid in the 21st over and the visiting team capsized thereafter, slowly but steadily. Stoinis succumbed to a shambolic run out owing to a mix-up with Glenn Maxwell. The team was eventually bowled out for 239 runs with 13 overs remaining.

Tim Paine, captain of Australia, said

That was some of the best striking I’ve seen. Hats off to the English boys, they are red hot. On a positive side we are getting some games into the young guys. That was the hardest day I’ve had in 16-17 years. It was tough, no matter where we put the field they hit the gaps. They are the yardstick of 50-over cricket. Twelve months is a hell of a long time in cricket so things can turn for you quickly. We have six guys who potentially will come back in some will have depth and experience.

Eoin Morgan, captain of England, said

Certainly a day for everyone in that changing room to be very proud of. The level of intensity was different to anything we’ve done in the last three years. It was as close to a complete performance as we’ve got to. Guys were relentless. A day to be proud. It’s never a case of them just getting score, they operate at the strike-rate the team wants them to. There are two more opportunities to score big runs. [Selection] is a good headache to have. It really does keep the playing XI on their toes. Nice place to be with a year until the World Cup. When we get to Durham we’ll reassess the bowlers and how they travel. Will be a case of managing the bowlers. We are 3-0 up but two more opportunities to win games of cricket. The way we look at it is that we need to be on top of our game if any trends change by next year. We have put ourselves into a position to adapt.

Alex Hales, the Player of the Match, said

As good as it gets, personally and from the team perspective. A special day. You’d have to rank it up there as better [than 2016], we are in a really good headspace as a team. The pool of talent is as good as it’s been in one-day cricket. We have to perform day in day out. You are always striving to improve.

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