England 268 for 6 (Morgan 103, Harris 3-42) beat Australia 267 for 7 (Clarke 87) by 4 wickets.
Anchor
Michael Clarke dropped anchor for Australia to help the tourists post a competitive 267 for 7. He hit some sweet drives and blows through the covers but an inability to accelerate his innings in the final overs proved critical, especially when you consider the match-winning efforts of England's anchor Eoin Morgan in reply. Two wickets a piece for Broad, Anderson and Yardy meant the Aussies never settled into a partnership with Clarke very much the backbone of a less-than-fluent batting effort by Ricky Ponting's men.
Saviour
In much the same fashion as Australia, England's batting heavyweights all got in and got out with the exception of one man, for the tourists it was Clarke and for England it was Eoin Morgan. As a result the difference between the two sides largely rested on how each man went about his task. For Clarke it was setting up a challenging total, and whilst he batted through until the 50th over 87 runs from 97 deliveries highlighted Clarke's inability push the run rate up above six an over. Conversely Morgan maintained a steady strike rate throughout, manipulating the Aussie bowlers with shots all around the park before crashing his second boundary of the 46th over to seal a win for England and a magnificent century for Morgan who rightly bagged the Man of the Match award.
England v Australia, 2nd ODI, Natwest Series at Sophia Gardens, 24 June 2010.
England 243 for 6 (Strauss 51, Bollinger 3-46) beat Australia 239 for 7 (White 86, Broad 4-44) by 4 wickets.
Applying the Brakes
Stuart Broad reached 100 one day wickets in this the second ODI between England and Australia at Cardiff, and chipped in with a further three key wickets to help restrict the Aussies to a mediocre 239 in their 50 overs. After a bright start for the batting side Broad made a timely breakthrough drawing Tim Paine into a shot down the leg side three balls into the bowling powerplay. Four overs later and having dragged his length back a fraction he was rewarded with the prized wicket of Ponting who was lured into a an uncomfortable shot outside offstump edging to keeper Kieswetter. With the captain back in the changing room Broad went about cutting his deputy down to size. A well directed bouncer proved too tricky for Clarke to safely manouvre out of danger and the ball clipped his glove and ballooned tamely to a grateful Graeme Swann at short leg. Broad capped off the landmark occasion with the wicket of Steven Smith who had looked good for his 41 from 53 deliveries, but Broad halted any ambitions Smith may have had of a half century with five overs remaining, a fatal blow that typified a lacklustre performance by the touring team.
In reply England's batsman combined well to cruise to victory with just under five overs remaining. With the exception of Kieswetter all the seven other batsman called upon reached double figures, captain Strauss and man-of-the-moment Morgan both passing fifty. Pietersen played well for his 33 and was only to be undone by a brilliant catch from Ricky Ponting on the edge of the ring. Paul Collingwood was dismissed two short of his half century after clattering two fours and two sixes in his innings before Graeme Swann finished the job in style with a flat six over long off.
England v Australia, 3rd ODI, Natwest Series at Old Trafford, 27 June 2010.
England 214 for 9 (Strauss 87, Bollinger 3-20) beat Australia 212 (Watson 61, Swann 4-37) by 1 wicket.
Off Break(through)
Graeme Swann pegged back the Australian top and middle order as England succeeded in keeping the opposition batsman under wraps. Ricky Ponting, whose problems against offspin have been well documented, was first to succumb to the dip and guile of Swann, drawn out of his crease only to waft into thin air leaving Kieswetter to gratefully remove the bails. Top scorer Watson was next to go Swann extracting some extra bounce from the wicket that caught Watson off guard as a simple leg side tickle was sent airborne and gobbled up at square leg by the captain. Strauss was in action again for Chin's third wicket taking a catch low to his left at the same position to get rid of big-hitter Cameron White. Swann's haul was complete when Clarke picked out Ian Bell at long off, the offspinner the only man to make inroads during the 'middle overs' helping England peg Australia back from 93 for 1 to 169 for 5 in the space of twenty overs.
Captain's Knock
A methodical 87 from captain Andrew Strauss proved vital as England narrowly stuttered over the line in a tense run chase at Manchester. An unflappable innings that only served to reinforce Strauss's credentials as 50 over captain. He was unable to reach what would have been a deserved hundred and see the innings to its finale but that was not a rarity in the England chase. The resolve of Strauss to put his team within touching distance of victory as apposed to Ponting who absorbed 16 balls for his 3 before charging recklessly only to be stumped, was a telling statistic as England notched up an unassailable 3-0 lead with two to play.
England v Australia, 4th ODI, Natwest Series at Kennington Oval, 30 June 2010.
Australia 290 for 5 (Clarke 99, Ponting 92) beat England 212 (Yardy 57, Harris 5-32) by 78 runs.
Two Significant Figures
As Australia marched out to bat first for the fourth time this series Ricky Ponting would have been hoping for an improvement on the sub-par totals of the three matches previous that had allowed England to get their hands on the trophy in the shortest time possible. It fell on the Aussie captain and vice-captain to dig deep and take their team to a formidable total. Ponting, who has been very much the lesser captain in the series so far, seemed to break free from the shackles of Old Trafford and played with great assurance and zeal, in particular off the back foot through his favoured on side. Clarke was equally fluent and James Anderson must have been ruing his dropped catch at cover when Clarke was only on 5. With both men in fine fettle Ponting called for the batting Powerplay in the 43rd over only to haul out to a leaping Strauss at extra cover off Jimmy's first ball, walking back eight short of another one day ton. Clarke was less reckless and his inability to pierce the field in the latter overs was again put into focus. A single from the first ball of the 50th over meant he had to watch while Steven Smith faced the remainder of the over leaving him stranded on 99 not out, the ninth player in ODI history to remain unbeaten one short of a hundred.
Fiery Five-For
A fired up Ryan Harris claimed the Man of the Match award terrorising England's batsman in a woeful display at the Oval. His intentions were clear when he bagged Craig Kieswetter early on, the England keeper again victim to a ball nipping back off the seam clattering into his off stump, Harris giving the opener a good old-fashioned Aussie send off. In his next over Harris speared a bowl ominously towards Pietersen's pads trapping him successfully in front, KP was not happy but replays showed he had no reason to complain -twas plum! Harris then extracted the dangerous Morgan, who had already hit three sixes on his way to 47, the Irishman drawn into a faint edge through to keeper Tim Paine. Bresnan, who had sealed a series victory for his side in the game previous, was next to go picking out Watson on the boundary edge, and Harris's haul was complete when Stuart Broad chipped tamely to Mike Hussey at cover. Australia had broken their duck and would be looking to increase their respectability with another victory when they travel to Lords for the final encounter between these sides before the Ashes this winter.
England v Australia, 5th ODI, Natwest Series at Lords, 3 July 2010.
Australia 277 for 7 (Hussey 79, Broad 4-64) beat England 235 (Collingwood 95, Tait 4-48) by 42 runs.
Throwing Caution to the Wind
79 runs from 60 balls and a 115 run partnership with Shaun Marsh in the final over and Michael Hussey had thrust Australia from a reasonable position to one of complete dominance. Mr Cricket was in fine form crashing two sixes and five fours but it was his ability to pick gaps in the field and push for those vital twos and threes that frustrated England's bowlers at the death. Hussey was finally dismissed three balls before the end of the innings but his lower order heroics had made a lasting impact Australia closing on 277 for 7 in 50 overs having been 162 for 4 going into the final ten overs.
Raw Pace
As the fruity baritone of Michael Holding has preached for years there is no replacement for 'real' pace and when Shaun Tait broke the 100mph barrier England wickets started to tumble. It takes a good bowler to get through the defence's of the England captain, and it takes a truly great spell of bowling to send Strauss's offstump cartwheeling out of the ground and that was exactly how Tait opened his account. With England requiring nearly six an over Michael Yardy was 'sent in to push the tempo'! Unsurprisingly Yardy was back in the pen two balls after his introduction, again Tait honing in on the stumps and hitting his target with supreme accuracy. Tait was then called upon as England entered the final 10 overs, Collingwood and having made his way into the nineties held any England hope of an unlikely victory, but Tait was on hand to suitably spoil the show removing the leg stump as Collingwood advanced down the wicket trying to keep in touch with the ever-increasing run rate. Swann was last to go and it was Tait again catching the England tweaker offguard with a well disguised slower ball. Final figures of 4 for 48 earned the Aussie fast bowler a man of the match award and Australia had clawed back to a far more respectful 3-2 defeat in an entertaining series of top notch cricket.
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