[ad_1]
| Second one-day international, Emirates Old Trafford |
| England 231-9 (50 overs): Morgan 42, T Curran 37, Zampa 3-36 |
| Australia 207 (48.4 out): Finch 73, Woakes 3-32, Archer 3-34, Curran 3-35 |
| England won by 24 runs; serial level at 1-1 |
| Scorekeeper |
World champions England achieved a staggering 24-race victory when Australia collapsed in the second one-day international match at Emirates Old Trafford.
Chasing 232 to win the series, Australia was sailing at 144-2 before Chris Woakes and Jofra Archer induced a four-wicket collapse for three runs on 21 balls.
A reeling Australia lost its last eight wickets for 63 runs when they were pitched for 207, despite a valiant 31-wicket partnership between Alex Carey and Josh Hazlewood.
England collapsed earlier to 149-8, with Adam Zampa spinning his leg, winning 3-36 before Adil Rashid and Tom Curran pushed them to 231-9.
Captain Eoin Morgan said he wanted his team to learn to “win ugly” and that he will be pleased with the way they got back into the game.
Archer was as hostile as he has been to England, interrupting the starting hitters first before returning to the attack with Woakes and causing a meltdown.
As good as England was, this was an almost unbelievable collapse of Australia, endowing the grounds with poor shots, no footwork and a generally baffled air.
England now have a chance to maintain their five-year undefeated streak in the one-day series at home in the final match of the series on the same field on Wednesday.
A notable collapse
When Archer and Woakes returned to attack, with Marnus Labuschagne and Aaron Finch sharing a 107-run position, it felt like the game was over.
However, the two stifled race pace before Woakes caught Labuschagne lbw, and six balls later Mitchell Marsh hit Archer on his stumps.
When captain Finch, who had led the way with 73, was brought down by Woakes in the next over, England increased their intensity and it paid off, as Glenn Maxwell put in great effort and was thrown.
It was the speed with which the collapse occurred that was so surprising, with Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc falling to back-to-back deliveries of Sam Curran while the left arm used all its variations.
Australia had this match at their fingertips and, for the second time on this tour, they let him escape.
Australia created its own undoing, as the partnership between Finch and Labuschagne had highlighted England’s struggle to seize medium-order terrains, a skill in which Liam Plunkett led the way for so long.
Rashid couldn’t find the right length on a field that offered some twist, while the Curran brothers, replacing Moeen Ali and Mark Wood, couldn’t make the breakthrough.
Finch and Labuschagne countered a tricky pitch with aggression and a smooth run, though Finch was dropped at 58 by Rashid in his follow-up.
But Australia twice had the opportunity to close out this match, the first with the ball when they couldn’t clear England’s tail and, secondly, when they spent half the stage with the bat.
They will expect Steve Smith, who again missed this game as a precaution after a blow to the head in the net on Friday, to return to offer some stability to a slightly fragile lineup.
Rashid and Curran spare batters’ blushes
This was a far from vintage performance with the England bat, which were put down by Australian bowlers.
Root personified the struggles. He was hit three times by rhythm pitchers, at a time that required treatment after a blow to Starc’s knee, and in desperation to rotate the strike, he ran from Jason Roy through a superb pitch from Marcus Stoinis to covered.
Despite looking uncomfortable, Root and Morgan led England to 90-2, Root was just beginning to loosen with consecutive limits before surpassing Zampa to slide in his first over.
With the execution rate going nowhere, the plots fell steadily. Jos Buttler was caught lbw by Pat Cummins, Morgan fell similarly to Zampa, Sam Billings cut the spinning leg at his stumps and Sam Curran passed Starc behind.
Chris Woakes played a useful cameo, but it was Rashid and Tom Curran who helped England finish strong.
The last six overs were for 67 races, including 18 of the excellent Cummins. Rashid slapped Cummins in the middle of the field during England’s second six innings as the two shared a 72-run position.
Australia were clearly frustrated when they left the field, but that was nothing compared to how they will feel after the hitting performance that would follow.
‘England never know when they are defeated’ – what they said
England Captain Eoin Morgan on BBC Test Match Special: “It was an outstanding victory, not out of nowhere, but the bowlers executed their plans as well as we did, particularly as Australia started to gain momentum in the Aaron Finch-Marnus Labuschagne partnership.
“Once we broke up, it was very difficult for the hitters to get in and get going. That was certainly the case when we were hitting.”
On his decision to release Jofra Archer and Chris Woakes early: “The game was getting away from us – it didn’t make sense that Jofra would have two or three overs left, and the same with Chris Woakes, if Australia is going to chase him at 42. We went all out and the plan was out of Australia.”
Australia Captain Aaron Finch: “At the end of the day, England was too good. England scored 81 runs in the last 10 overs, which was not ideal.”
England bowler Chris Woakes: “It’s great to have someone like Jofra Archer on your team because when you face him you can give him the ball and you get that little X-factor from him, which is brilliant.”
Phil Tufnell, former England player at TMS: “England never know when they are defeated. They always feel like they can get it out of the fire.”
Charles Dagnall from TMS: “England had no right to win this match when Australia was approaching victory. Once again, this England team has conjured something.”
