Cricket England end series with record ODI defeat
ENGLAND’S time in Australia ended with a whimper as Pat Cummins’ side won by a thumping 221-run margin at a sparsely-populated Melbourne Cricket Ground to seal a 3-0 ODI series triumph over the double world champions.
There was an end-of-term feeling to England’s display nine days on from their T20 World Cup success and the fixture’s relevance or lack thereof was amplified by a 10,406crowd at the 100,000-capacity ground.
But they witnessed Travis Head (152 off 130 balls) and David Warner (106 off 102 deliveries) put on a 269run stand in 38.1 overs for the opening wicket, Australia’s second highest ever which underpinned a record 355 for five at this venue.
The match was reduced to 48 overs per side due to rain and England were never in the hunt to chase an adjusted 364 target, capitulating to their heaviest loss in terms of runs, all out for 142 in 31.4 overs.
It is the first time England have been clean swept in a multi-match ODI series since October 2011 while there are injury concerns over Phil Salt, who banged his head after an awkward landing when fielding. Moeen Ali came in as a concussion substitute
Afterwards, England captain Jos Buttler told BBC Test Match Special: “We’ve fallen a long way short. It was always going to be a tough series for us coming off the back of the World Cup but it was just a few games too far.
“Fair play to Australia, they have outplayed us.
“It doesn’t put any taint on the World Cup win at all for us. We’re very happy with the tour, we’ve got exactly what we wanted from it (World Cup win).”
Australia captain Pat Cummins said: “It’s been fantastic all three games, everything has really clicked. The bowlers have wanted to bowl and done the job, and the batters have been fantastic.
“It was good to finish it off here with I think is the best ODI I’ve been a part of.”