Australia, chasing a goal of 303, was almost out of the game at 73/5 when Maxwell reached the fold. But Australia’s record-setting sixth spot of 212 between Carey (106) and Maxwell (108) helped give the Tourists a 2-1 success as England suffered their first home loss in the ODI series in five years.
Earlier, Jonny bairstow had revived England from the depths of 0-2 with a superb hundred to bring them to 302/7 after the starter watched from the other end as Mitchell Starc, quick with his left arm, eliminated Jason Roy and the captain of Joe Root tests with the first two balls of the game.
Sam Billings (57) and Chris Woakes (53 not eliminated) also reached valuable fifty.
The Maxwell Hundred was just his second century in 113 matches at this level, with Carey’s entries into the wicketkeeper’s maiden century in his 39th ODI.
But when Maxwell made a hole with Adil Rashid, Australia still needed 18 of 15 balls. That became 10 out of six when Carey, whose century hit 106 balls, was superbly caught by Mark Wood in third man off Jofra Archer.
How good were these two ?! 😍 Centuries for Glenn Maxwell and Alex Carey helped us chase a record total at Manc… https://t.co/S2thFfWYok
– Cricket Australia (@CricketAus) 1600288802000
New batter Starc, however, hit his first ball, from Rashid, for six and sealed the victory with two balls to spare on a four.
“It was probably not the ideal situation when I came in, but being the last hitter, I guess I had a bit of a license to do it early on,” Maxwell told Sky Sports.
“We thought if we could take it as deep as we could, Alex and I, we might have a shot at the rear.”
England captain Eoin Morgan said Australia was “too good for us”, adding: “Losing two wickets without races and then posting more than 300 is a very positive thing for us. I think Jonny Bairstow was outstanding today.
“Carey and Maxwell played extraordinarily well.”
England had to regret that Carey was caught in nine of an Archer no-ball as they ended a season hit by the coronavirus by suffering their first series loss in 18 matches in all formats.
Australia’s success was even more commendable as star hitter Steve Smith missed all three games after sustaining a head injury while hitting the net.
Pace pitcher Woakes took the first two wickets early in Australia’s chase, with captain Aaron Finch lbw and Marcus Stoinis caught on a leading edge in midwicket.
And Australia was 55/4 when Morgan saw his decision to bring in Root rewarded for the occasional off course taking two wickets for three runs on six balls.
Root clean launched David Warner (24) with a good delivery that leaned towards the southpaw before jerking away.
He then had off-roader Mitchell Marsh deliver a simple catch to goalie Jos Buttler.
And when Marnus Labuschagne sold out, Australia was 73/5 in 17th.
But Maxwell, Australia’s last recognized hitter, took advantage of a short limit and hit a hundred of 84 balls with his seventh six, off middle pace Tom Curran.
Australia win a brilliant game of cricket to take the series. Scorecard / Clips: https://t.co/6g4wXuAPLI#ENGvAUS https://t.co/6kOcVOVZUg
– England Cricket (@englandcricket) 1600287268000
Morgan won the toss and hit on a new pitch.
But from the first ball, Roy got ahead of Starc to go back.
On the next ball, Starc had Root lbw with an inswinger, and the batter didn’t bother to review.
Left-hander Morgan survived the hat-trick before Billings gave Bairstow excellent support, completing a fifty-five ball before becoming one of three wickets for Adam Zampa.
Bairstow went to his century in style with a six legged on a 90 mph delivery from Pat Cummins.
Bairstow’s 10th century in 83 ODI came from 116 balls, including 10 fours and two sixes, before being released by Cummins slower ball.
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