ROY’S THE BOY AS ENGLAND ROUT AUSSIES AGAIN

JASON ROY’S century headlined another breathtaking display as England trounced Australia by six wickets at Chester-le-Street last night to put themselves on course for a 5-0 whitewash. An opening stand of 174 between Roy (101) and Jonny Bairstow (79) kickstarted England’s second highest successful one-day international run chase, before Jos Buttler (54no) joined in with a remarkable 28-ball 50. They knocked off a ground-record 310 for eight with more than five overs to spare — before the floodlights could take effect on the longest day of the year. Eoin Morgan’s men have a 4-0 series lead, despite centuries from Aaron Finch (100) and Shaun Marsh (101) and Travis Head’s 63 in Australia’s hardworking total. Afterwards, England skipper Morgan said: ‘I thought we played pretty solid cricket. We lost the toss and our objective was to chase something that was within our grasp. ‘We struggled to take wickets but managed to control the run-rate, which is nice when the batting line-up we have is firing. ‘We like playing at Old Trafford, the challenge is to finish it off.’ Aussie counterpart Tim Paine was left to reflect on another dispiriting defeat. ‘We were probably 30 or 40 short,’ he admitted. ‘I thought we were in the game for a patch, didn’t quite execute up front and Jonny and Jason jumped all over it. ‘We came here with an inexperienced side and, while it’s not an excuse, we’re up against the best side in the world and they’re red hot at the moment.’

Fourth One-Day International, Emirates Riverside: Australia 310-8 (S E Marsh 101, A J Finch 100, T M Head 63; D J Willey 4-43) lost to England 314-4 (J J Roy 101, J M Bairstow 79, J C Buttler 54 no) by 6 wkts.