8 for 5! England’s shock collapse ends bid for whitewash
ENGLAND’S Australia Day hoodoo struck again as hopes of inflicting a series whitewash on their Ashes tormentors were ended by a calamitous start to their innings.
Never have they opened a oneday international in such disarray, although there were mitigating circumstances in their slump to eight for five after a lunchtime shower juiced up the pitch.
Australia’s second one-day win in 12 months ought to have been a breeze after their new-ball pair of Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins took advantage of the lavish swing and seam on offer in sultry conditions and Steve Smith’s winning of a crucial toss.
That it was sealed with only three wickets standing came down to the spirit and depth of this England team under Eoin Morgan and in particular to the talents of Chris Woakes, who became the first player in ODI history to hit back-to-back 50s from No 8.
Four of those above him perished without scoring and several went to attacking strokes when Test tempo might have been applied. However, it said something of Jos Buttler’s current touch that he feathered a beauty from Hazlewood while the delivery from Cummins that seamed back to castle Alex Hales bit so viciously that it left teeth marks in the pitch.
‘I thought they bowled really well and the ball moved around. That rarely happens in a one-day international for so long,’ said Morgan. ‘It was about finding a balance to take the game to them but also get through a tough period. It was tricky.’
At that point it appeared things were going to be even more humiliating than on this Australia Day fixture at the same venue in 2007, when England were out for 110. This time they began by scraping together the second lowest tally for the loss of half a side in the history of ODIs between Test nations — only bettering the half-dozen Sri Lanka made before recovering to beat Bangladesh nine years ago.
The first of three half- century partnerships saw England past the all-time ODI low total of 35. And then, thanks to Woakes, they went beyond 86 — their lowest total versus Australia, 17 years ago.
Last summer England slumped to 20 for six versus South Africa at Lord’s. This time, with Woakes in such rich form, England’s 700th ODI went much deeper. Timing the ball better than anyone, including local boy Travis Head who hit 96 on his recall, Woakes took advantage of the resting Mitchell Starc’s absence to attack Australia’s mid-innings bowling.
Luck appeared to be on his side when he swung his fifth six to midwicket off Adam Zampa and Andrew Tye misjudged a potential catch by running in from the boundary. However, he cashed in his chips for 78 next over when he holed out off Tye. And when No 10 Tom Curran chipped to midwicket for an enterprising 35, it left Australia requiring 197 to reduce the series deficit to 3-1.
But in a sign of the home team’s plunging confidence levels, their chase took on an attritional tone.
For England to stand a chance of pulling off one of the great limitedovers heists, early wickets were crucial. David Warner and Smith obliged with nicks, book- ending another failure for Cameron White, whose place in the final ODI in Perth tomorrow is under threat.
But with Head holding things together with regular boundaries on the first anniversary of his sole international hundred against Pakistan, it looked as though the 24,329 crowd would have plenty of time to cross the Torrens River to take in their city’s evening fireworks display. Yet a nervy finish ensued when Mitchell Marsh and Marcus Stoinis fell to leg-spinner Adil Rashid, and Head gave things away one boundary shy of another three-figure score by pulling a Mark Wood delivery to mid-on.
The 17 runs required at that stage had been reduced by five when Cummins was run out in a mix-up with Tim Paine. But the Australia wicketkeeper swatted a couple of boundaries before Tye struck a winning three.
‘It was nice to get over the line in the end,’ said Smith. ‘But it was a pretty ordinary batting display really, apart from Head.
‘The rest of us need to have a good, hard look at ourselves, start scoring some more runs and help this team win some games.’