Buttler ton dooms Aussies to whitewash
JOS Buttler’s superb 110 not out saw England to a dramatic onewicket, whitewash-clinching win over Australia in the fifth one-day international at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Victory meant England completed their first 5-0 series sweep of Australia in any format in more than 140 years of international men’s matches between the arch-rivals.
Set just 206 to win, England slumped to 114 for eight.
They were still 11 runs shy of victory at 195 for nine when Adil Rashid (20), who had helped Buttler add 81, was dismissed to leave England 195 for nine.
But Buttler responded by hitting part-time seamer Marcus Stoinis for six to complete a hundred off 117 balls – the first time the usually rapid-scoring wicketkeeper-batsman had faced more than 100 balls at this level.
Last man Jake Ball held his nerve and Buttler won the match on his Lancashire home ground with nine balls to spare when he hit Stoinis for four as England finished on 208 for nine.
It was a win celebrated by raucous cheers from a 23,500 capacity sun-drenched crowd, some of whom had previously enjoyed the goals the England football team scored in a 6-1 World Cup rout of Panama.
“It’s pure elation, isn’t it?,” said Buttler, both the man of the match and man of the series.
“Winning games when you didn’t deserve to, they’re almost the more enjoyable ones.”
England captain Eoin Morgan praised Buttler for managing “to get us over the line somehow”.
Meanwhile, Australia skipper Tim Paine insisted the reverse hurt just as much as his side’s record 242-run defeat in the third match at Trent Bridge that featured England’s 481 for six – the highest total in any men’s ODI.
‘It stings a lot’
Paine, who indicated his batsmen were mostly to blame on Sunday, said: “It stings . . . it does sting a lot . . . it’s disappointing to lose five games of cricket in a row.
Fast bowler Billy Stanlake’s opening spell of three wickets for 18 had given Australia a shot of a first international win under coach Justin Langer, appointed after Darren Lehmann resigned following the ball-tampering scandal in March.
It took England just four balls to lose their first wicket when the in-form Jason Roy, fresh from his 101 in the fourth ODI at Chester-le-Street on Thursday, was bowled attempting a big hit off left-arm spinner Ashton Agar. And when Stanlake bowled Morgan for a duck, England were 27 for four.
They started to repair some of the damage but were in deep trouble again at 114 for eight when paceman Kane Richardson struck in successive balls to remove ODI debutant Sam Curran and Liam Plunkett.
Rashid survived the hat-trick, however, and then helped Buttler take England to the brink of victory before he was well caught by Stanlake at fine leg.
Earlier, off-spinner Ali took an ODI best four for 46 as England, the No1-ranked side in this format, dismissed world champions Australia, who won the toss, for 205 inside 35 overs.