Bristol: A Travis Head-inspired Australia have won their race against the weather to beat England by 49 runs on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method at Bristol and clinch the ODI series 3-2 in a soggy, anti-climactic finale to their UK tour.
Head, who began the five-match series with a glorious hundred, ended it on Sunday with the best spell of his part-time bowling career, 4-28 off 6.2 overs, before another blistering cameo with the bat, accompanied by a record-breaking half-century from Matt Short, won the day.
Travis Head celebrates after taking the wicket of Brydon Carse in Bristol on Sunday.Credit: Getty Images
The focus before rain had the final say was if Australia, guided by stand-in captain Steve Smith, could outsprint the clouds and score enough in their reply to England’s 309 over the first 20 overs – the number needed to ensure a result – to guarantee a win on DLS.
They did just that, going at a helter-skelter pace over the first powerplay before ending up at 2-165 – perfect timing as it turned out, with the rain starting to belt down just four balls after the mandatory 20-over mark.
Smith was on 36no alongside Josh Inglis (28no) with Australia able to celebrate a victory in the series despite having endured a host of injuries over three trying weeks.
Smith won the toss and sent England in, then had to overcome a headache as England launched an early assault. He found his unlikely hero in player-of-the-match Head as part-time spinners stymied the charge.
Smith watched star spinner Adam Zampa get clouted for six sixes by Harry Brook, while Ben Duckett was racing to 100.
Mixing and matching with eight bowlers, Smith’s depleted attack worked marvels after England had made 2-202 just before the halfway point, only to collapse to 309 off 49.2 overs. Brook had hit 72 off 52 balls, while Duckett blasted 107 off 91 deliveries for his second ODI century.
Brook warmed up the full house of 13,000 with another bravura knock following a ton and half-century in his last two innings.
The captain backed himself to take down Zampa while targeting the short Bristol boundaries, clocking him for half-a-dozen of his seven sixes.
But when Zampa finally tempted the England captain to go for one heave too many, prompting a miscue and a neat catch from Glenn Maxwell, the home assault unravelled.
Head came on to grab the big wicket of Duckett, while Zampa regained his mojo by getting Liam Livingstone.
With clouds overhead and rain predicted, Head, with a blistering 31 off 26 balls set the tone. But Short (58 off 30) was even more destructive, reaching his half-century off just 23 balls.
There were comical scenes as the 20-over mark loomed and rain threatened as England appeared to resort to time-wasting tactics, with pacer Matthew Potts making a call for a new boot.
“We’ve seen this movie before,” chuckled Ricky Ponting in the commentary box.
AAP
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