Twitter Reactions: All-Round England trump the Aussies to take 1-0 lead in the series

The half-centuries from Morgan and Root and Willey's calm knock helped the hosts chase down the total of 215.

By Aditya Gajanan Kukalyekar verified

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4 Min Read

Moeen Ali of England
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Moeen Ali of England. (Photo by Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images)

England and Australia renewed their rivalry in the One-Day Internationals as they faced each other at the Kennington Oval in London on Thursday. The hosts were exceptional with the ball in this game as they kept on picking the wickets at regular intervals and restricted the Aussies to a meagre total of 214 runs. But the visitors hit back with a spirited bowling performance and made things interesting by picking some late wickets. However, it was not enough for them as the lower order won the game for England to take the lead in the series.

It was the Men in Yellow who won the toss and opted to bat first but they got off to the worst possible start by losing Travis Head in the second over. Though the duo of Aaron Finch and Shaun Marsh managed to eke out some quick runs after that as they stitched 40 runs together. The introduction of Moeen Ali into the attack proved deadly for the visitors as they gifted three wickets to him only to derail their innings. It was Finch who started the slide as his attempt to smash the ball over the covers failed.

Marsh was trapped with a loopy delivery which turned to disturb his stumps after which the skipper Tim Paine played an unnecessary reverse sweep and gave away his wicket. At 90/5, the hopes of an Aussie come back looked grim but Glenn Maxwell hit form at the right time for his team and slammed a half-century. He was well supported by Ashton Agar as he also scored 40 runs. But as the duo was dismissed, it was all one-way traffic with the lower order failing to chip in with crucial runs.

They were eventually bundled out for 214 in the 48th over with the likes of Liam Plunkett and Moeen Ali finishing with three wickets. England also started in the same way to the chase as they lost Jason Roy in the very first over who was dismissed by Billy Stanlake with a peach of a delivery. The in-form batsman Jonny Bairstow then added some quick runs to the board before he and Alex Hales were also dismissed to reduce the home side to 38/3 in the eighth over.

However, Eoin Morgan brought calmness to the proceedings as he played a defining knock of 69 runs off just 74 balls and added 115 runs for the fourth wicket. However, his fall triggered a mini collapse as England lost three wickets on the bounce to allow the visitors a sniff. But the duo of Moeen Ali and David Willey didn’t panic and played out a few good deliveries during the period. The former was dismissed with 18 runs still to get which gave the hope to the fighting Aussies.

David Willey though kept his nerves and took the team over the line with 3 wickets in hand. Australia bowled well but lacked the killing instinct when it required the most during the chase. Though the credit has to go to the bowlers for taking the game deep and picking the wickets at the regular intervals. Their batsmen didn’t post enough runs on the board else the match would’ve gone even close.

Here’s how Twitter reacted during the topsy-turvy game:

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