For years to come, when we reflect on ODI’s great finishes, this game hardly deserves a mention.
After all, there was no World Cup at stake. No Super Over breathless or no final delivery. The final margin of victory, 24 races, might even convince those flipping through Wisden’s pages 30 years from now, it wasn’t that close.
But, in its way, this was a slow-burning classic. And the result represents one of England’s biggest comebacks in the format. Make no mistake, they were dead and buried in this match. At 144-2, Australia had two established hitters in the crease (they’d already put down 107) and only needed 88 more to win. With 19.2 overs remaining, the victory appeared to be a formality.
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As it stood, Australia lost 8 of 63. Over the course of 108 balls, England’s bowlers took advantage of an increasingly demanding surface and increasingly nervous opposition. The result sets a delicious finale to this remarkable international men’s season on Wednesday. From the position we found ourselves in in May, we have been incredibly lucky to witness so much compelling cricket.
England had several stars. Jofra Archer, bowling with incredible pace and skill, claimed the Man of the Match award for her 3 of 34; all three lands come from the top five in Australia. He’s barely a year into his international career, but the idea already occurs to him that he could be becoming one of the best limited-limit bowlers England has ever had.
“He hasn’t had a bad day with the white ball yet. It’s very rare,” captain Eoin Morgan said. “Playing to the max, you might have one out of four or five really good days; the rest you try and contribute when you can. But he continues to show that he is amazing to have in our group.”
The award could have also gone to Chris Woakes, for his 3 of 32, and the trio of grounds that were: Aaron Finch, Marnus Labuschagne and Glenn Maxwell. With Archer he combined to deliver the spell that changed the game.
Tom Curran also had a strong claim. He followed up his vital innings of 37 by conceding just 28 of his 10 overs. And Sam Curran, who claimed three plots of his last five overs delivered in a spell upon death, must also be mentioned in dispatches. “Every time they enter the team there is a level of competitiveness that is more visual than any other player,” Morgan said.
But most of all, there was Morgan. He achieved top scorers for England, and at a time when a competent player like Joe Root (39 of 73 balls) made hitting look painful, Morgan (42 of 52) was able to hint at fluidity, but his main contribution was the field. .
When everything seemed hopeless, he was calm personified. When Plan A failed, he pursued Plan B with such conviction that his team followed him. And while there must have been a time when he feared defeat, you would never know from his behavior. It was revealing that he later sought an analogy with poker; you imagine you don’t know when you play Morgan.
His biggest decision came in the middle of Australia’s innings. With Mark Wood absent with an ankle “discomfort” – a bit concerning given his record – and Adil Rashid enduring a bad day, Morgan was limited to two strike pitchers: Archer and Woakes. And while the regular England squad sees the two return to bowling after death, Morgan reasoned that, with the game quickly fading, it was time to go all out.
“Jofra is obviously an ace and so is Woakesy,” Morgan said. “You like to throw them into the most important parts of the game and I felt at the time that it was the most important part. The game was getting away from us.”
So Morgan brought Archer back on 26 and Woakes on 27. Perhaps, at the beginning of those spells, he expected to have one or two more of both in reserve. But as it was, with the ball beginning to sway, sew, slip, and recede, they threatened with every pitch.
However, the wickets would not come. So they went to the seventh and eighth. Gone are the plans for them to cast to death. Gone are the other options if this bet didn’t work.
Finally, Woakes beat the bat: Labuschagne caught up front for one who bit back. But the referee’s finger stayed down.
“I pulled everything. We needed to go all in. But when bowlers play like this, when bowlers hit like this, the captain looks good.”
Eoin Morgan
Now if there’s one thing we’ve learned this summer, it’s that Michael Gough is an exceptional referee. However, Morgan backed his goalie, Jos Buttler, and asked for the review. It meant the end of Labuschagne. It was the moment when the game changed.
“The protocol I use is to go to Jos before the bowler,” Morgan said. “The bowler is very emotionally involved, but Jos sees everything from behind the stumps and thought he was right in line. Since we hadn’t created an opportunity in that period for really good bowling, if Jos was 50-50 I would have bet anyway. “
Archer followed in the next over – his ninth – throwing Mitchell Marsh with one that stayed low and Morgan decided to go for the jugular. Both players were going to complete their assignments of more than 10 on this spell. The game was going to be defined now.
Woakes hit again on his ninth change, Finch’s big wicket, thrown by a beauty who held her line to take off the stump, and followed up with Maxwell, thrown in a similar style, in her tenth. “Let’s get No. 7 now Woakesy,” Morgan said a ball or two earlier, perhaps sowing a little seed of doubt and resentment in Maxwell’s mind.
The form of the dismissals was also relevant. These weren’t caught-length or thin-leg hitters; they were quality players who saw stumps hit them when they tried defensive shots. “It sends a pretty big message to the guys coming in about how difficult it is,” Morgan said. “It was the bowlers who got the batters out. Australia didn’t make too many mistakes.”
Even then, the game could have gone either way. There were 15 overs remaining and the Australian requirement, although much more difficult – 82 required with four wickets remaining – was not impossible.
With 11 overs remaining, Sam Curran had six to pitch. There was no contingency, there should be a fight; nowhere else to turn. But within three balls of his return, two more wickets had been claimed and the game was almost won. The return was complete.
Australia seemed unusually self-conscious with the end in sight. It would be simplistic and disrespectful for both sides to label them as chokers; This course was tough and England really deserves a little more credit than that. But there may also be a grain of truth in it. It’s only been 10 days since they snatched an equally unlikely defeat from the jaws of victory in the first T20I.
However much it says about Australia, it may say more about England. They have had some tight chases in recent years and have fought from some seemingly desperate positions. But they have almost always done it with the bat.
Morgan was modest afterwards and gave credit to the bowlers. “I pulled everything. We needed to go all in. But when bowlers play like this, when bowlers hit like this, it makes the captain look good. The bowlers made us look good today.”
But Morgan has to take some credit for instilling such belief in those bowlers. As Archer put it, “It gives us the freedom to throw whatever we want. He rarely says ‘no’ to you.”
It’s not the first time Morgan has been thought to seem to get more out of Archer than Root. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that England seem to get more out of her with a cue ball than a red ball. Because it could be that it is the format, the more clearly defined role and the guarantees of the required overs, which plays into Archer’s strengths.
Equally, it could be that limiting the number of short balls you can throw helps. Archer’s gorilla is exceptionally good. It’s hard to imagine a bowler from England hitting batters in the helmet with such regularity. But it is even better when used in moderation. There is no hitter in the world who does not know what could come. Better, surely, to punish his reluctance to come forward with more complete submissions.
Either way, it’s notable that there are more smiles from Archer when Morgan is around. There was a telling moment here: With the game at its most tense, the ball was played between Morgan, on the short leg, you could tell, and Archer in his follow-up. Morgan was about to pick it up when Archer, showing off some deft soccer skills, passed him to the side. Both men laughed. England, with Morgan, is certainly focused, but also relaxed. It seems to be a winning combination.
“That result will not only give pitchers the confidence to run again in that situation, but also the belief that they can win regardless of the game situation,” Morgan said. “It is very satisfying.”
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