England vs Australia, ODI Series 2018: Combined XI

Australia’s tour of England started off on a dismal note. The visitors were clean swept in the 5-match ODI series and the hosts thoroughly dominated them in all departments of the game. The Englishmen were absolutely brutal in the series. Their accolades with the bat are something that the Australian bowlers with not forget an soon.

The Australian side in the absence of Steve Smith and David Warner looked like a tyre without air in it. They did not have enough strength or depth in their side to pull off some miracles. Even in the last ODI, after getting into such a commanding position, the Aussies failed to win the game. Tim Paine started off getting clean swept in his first ever limited over assignment of the side.

Furthermore, there were also some great performances from both the sides. Although a few of them came in a losing cause, they were very commendable. On that note, here is the combined XI from both the teams. Given that there were far more superior performances from the England players, this side, for the obvious reasons will be dominated by them.

1. Jason Roy

Jason Roy has had a dream series against Australia. He was very aggressive with the bat and dominated all of the Australian bowlers. After bagging a duck in the first ODI, Roy came back quite strong. He scored a century in the second and the fourth ODIs. In the third ODI, he missed out on a well-deserved one as he was run out on 82. But, he got out for just 1 run in the first ODI which also means that he has scored 303 runs in just 3 games.

Roy ended the series as the leading run-scorer. He has scored 304 runs in 5 games at an average of 60.80 and a strike rate close to 120. He also hit 8 sixes in this series and struck 31 boundaries.

2. Jonny Bairstow

Jonny Bairstow was Roy’s partner in crime and has had an equally good series. Bairstow maintained his consistency throughout the series. After failing to convert his good starts into something big in the first two games, he announced himself in the third game with a mind-blowing century which helped England post the highest ever ODI total of 481 runs. Bairstow scored 139 runs in that game.

Bairstow was the second highest scorer in the series just 4 runs shy of Jason Roy. He scored 300 runs at an average of 60. Further, his strike rate of 133.33 was the best in the series. He hit 6 sixes in the series and his tally of 40 boundaries was also the highest.

3. Shaun Marsh

Shaun Marsh was the best Australian batsman in the series without a second thought. Despite the team losing games on a trot, he remained positive and kept piling up the runs. He scored two centuries in the series and the way he paced his innings in those two games was something commendable. But, unfortunately, he has failed to find enough support from the other players leading to the team’s downfall.

Marsh has scored 288 runs in the five games that he played in this series, the third-highest. His average of about 58 and his strike rate was 103. He is also the joint-highest six-hitter with 8 maximums along with Roy. Most of his runs came in singles and twos with the occasional boundaries.

4. Jos Buttler

Jos Buttler is possibly in the best form of his life currently. He is scoring runs with an impeccable consistency and all around the world. Jos has been a complete beast ever since he started opening innings for the Rajasthan Royals. He carried that good form forward and is continuing to impress. Buttler was also named the ‘Man of the Series’.

Jos Buttler has scored 275 runs in this series at an unbelievable average of 137.50. He has also scored his runs at a quick pace and his strike rate was 113. Buttler smashed two half-centuries and one century in the series. The century he hit in the 5th ODI is something he’ll remember for a long, long time.

5.  Travis Head

Travis Head was another batsman from the Australian side who has somewhat impressed in this series. He helped provide the side with some good starts although not very consistent. In this side, he will play the role of a floater and can play with a lot more freedom. Also, he was the second-highest Aussie scorer in the series.

Head has scored 194 runs in the series with an average close to 39. His strike rate of 118 was also impressive. Head has hit the most half-centuries in the series with a total of 3 of them. However, he would be gutted that he was not able to carry on to reach the three-figure mark on any of the three occasions.

6. Aaron Finch

This wasn’t the ideal series for a player of Aaron Finch’s standards. He was in good form before the IPL kicked off. However, he lost the plot completely during the tournament and had the worst of IPL. Coming back into this England tour, there weren’t great expectations on him. However, he has somewhat made positive inroads which will give him some confidence going forward.

Finch scored 161 runs in this series. Out of these 161 runs, 100 runs have come just in the 4th ODI. Hence, his average is just 32 although his strike rate of 95 was decent. Finch will take up the role of the finisher in this XI and with Moeen Ali after him, he can bat with a bit more freedom.

7. Moeen Ali

Moeen Ali was terrific with the ball in this series. Although he didn’t impress much with the bat, he makes it into this XI only based on his bowling performances. He has constantly troubled the Australian batsmen and never allowed them to settle. His great economical spells in the middle overs helped England a great deal.

Moeen was the leading wicket-taker in the series with 12 scalps to his name. His average of 17.25 was great. And, this, when combined with his economy rate of about 5, was terrific. With the bat, Moeen has scored 52 runs in 4 innings batting down the order.

8. Adil Rashid

Adil Rashid has also had a great series which is quite a positive sign for England. Rashid kept mounting the pressure on the Aussie batsmen from the other end along with Moeen Ali and forced them to commit mistakes. Adil bowled some great googglies and showed some great variations in his bowling.

He was the joint-highest wicket-taker with 12 wickets. He was managed to outfox even the best of Australian batsmen. His average of 21.50 was a tad higher than that of Moeen Ali. Also, he bowled at an economy rate of just under 6 runs per over.

9. David Willey

David Willey was one of the best England pacers in the series. He bowled with some great precision and was able to bowl those deliveries which moved away from the right-handers. Also, he bowled well both at the top and the death. His services with the bat were not required much. But he looked quite promising with his 35 in the first ODI.

Willey was rested for the last game of the series. He picked 7 wickets in 4 games with an average of 25.71. His economy was just above 6 runs per over which is pretty decent. Also, he had the best bowling figures of 4/43 in the series.

10. Kane Richardson

Kane Richardson was by far one of the best Australian pacers in the series. However, it is quite puzzling that he only played just 3 games. But even in those games, he impressed one and all with his lines and lengths. Kane will take the new ball in this XI along with David Willey.

Richardson has picked 6 wickets in the series at an average of 26. His economy was exactly 6 this series and was quite impressive. Further, his strike rate with the ball was 26 and his best bowling figures read 3/51. While most of the other bowlers were leaking runs, Richardson’s economy rate was something that had to be applauded.

11. Liam Plunkett

Liam Plunkett was the highest-wicket taker among the pacers in this series. He carried on with his good form from the IPL and looked great this series. He changeups were highly impressive and the Australian batsmen definitely seemed to be troubled with his slower deliveries.

Plunkett has picked 8 wickets in 4 games at an average under 20. He had one of the best figures in the series which read 4/53. His economy rate of 5.70 bowling at the top and at the death was terrific. Also, he had the second best strike rate of 20.38 in this series after Moeen Ali.