England v Australia 4th ODI review: England hold nerve to make it 2-2

England v Australia 4^th ODI review: England hold nerve to make it 2-2: Eoin Morgan’s knock and some sensible late order batting ensured England managed to take the ODI series to the decider as they secured a 3-wicket win over the visitors in Leeds. The Aussie bowlers were guilty of some loose bowling towards the death as the hosts romped home with 10 balls to spare and levelled the series.

Earlier Australia captain Steven Smith won the toss for the first time in the series and chose to bat first. David Willey gave England an early breakthrough by dismissing Joe Burns on 2 in the third over of the innings. The left arm pacer was on fire as he did not allow Steve Smith and Aaron Finch to settle either and removed them quickly. Australia were in some serious trouble as Maxwell joined Bailey at the crease. Maxwell was carrying his luck literally up his sleeve today. After being dropped on 6 and 35 he made sure to make the visitors pay.

After early jolts Maxwell’s counterattacking strokes left the English pacers with no answers. The partnership between him and Bailey crossed the half-century mark as both looked at ease. Bailey was sedate but was more than complementing Maxwell as the partnership reached 100. Moeen Ali, again proved how useful he can be, when he dismissed the dangerous looking Maxwell for 85. The knock wasn’t only a brisk one but also made sure Australia came back into the game.

Liam Plunkett picked up two wickets in a single over and halted Australia’s progress. England pulled things back to some extent by taking a cluster of wickets around the 40th over but some lusty blows at the end by Hastings and Wade ensured Australia set the hosts a target of 300. Wade was particularly aggressive as he brought up his fifty in just 26 balls. Moeen Ali picked up two wickets while Willey managed 3.

The chase couldn’t have begun more horribly for the English. Pat Cummins dismissed Alex Hales in the second over itself. Jason Roy built a half century stand with Taylor but again failed to carry on. When Taylor got out with the score of 89-3, England were in a spot of bother. Marcus Stoinis’ first over in international cricket was full of drama as Wade claimed a catch of Stokes, only for replays to reveal the ball had bounced. Stokes made the most of the reprieve and hit three fours in the very next over off Pattinson.

That started a phase where he and Morgan milked the bowling and took calculated risks in between. Mitchell Marsh finally gave Australia the much-needed breakthrough by dismissing Ben Stokes on 41 breaking the 91-run stand. Morgan was looking set to steer his team home again but Glenn Maxwell’s one-handed stunner at point disrupted his plans as he was dismissed for 92.

Moeen Ali joined Bairstow as England needed 62 of the final 10 overs. With the required rate always within manageable proportion, the chase looked on track. And despite Australia picking up late wickets, some fearless batting by Ali and Liam Plunkett made sure the hosts won comfortably. Wade had dropped Moeen off Pat Cummins and that proved to be a costly miss. For Australia, Cummins bowled with pace and aggression and was rewarded with four scalps. The rest of the Aussie attack seemed to be one-dimensional.

After copping a hammering in the first two ODIs, it looks like Eoin Morgan’s side has rediscovered its mojo. Australia will have go back to the drawing board. The final game of the series will be played at Old Trafford on Sunday and judging by the way the hosts have come back we can expect a close one.

Brief Scores:

Australia – 299/7 50 overs (Maxwell 85, Bailey 75; Willey 3-51)

England – 304/7 48.2 overs (Morgan 92, Taylor 41; Cummins 4-49)

Man of the Match – Eoin Morgan