Australia won the first ODI by the comfortable margin of 59 runs in what became a disappointingly one-sided match. This was Australia’s 10th victory in 11 matches against England in this form of the game.
In pursuit of 306 for victory English wickets suddenly fell in such a flurry at the 35-over mark – at one point they lost three in four balls – that thousands of a packed house took a view and left early in pursuit of some heat and an easier exit from the ground.
Australia did not play like world champions (only half this side played in the World Cup final six months ago) but they displayed enough nous to dominate the game. They won a good toss, restored their innings in the last 15 overs and seized their chances eagerly in the field. By contrast England’s response fell away feebly.
The target was within reach in the 21st century, especially since England’s chase was launched with such panache by Jason Roy, who looks the sort of batsman who prefers not to waste too much energy. Casual flicks send the ball racing to the leg-side boundary. Where have we seen such lazy power with a hint of haughtiness before? Here is a clue. Roy was born in Durban. However, he is not part of the traditional South African “conveyor veldt” since he arrived in England at the age of 10.
Roy cruised to 67 before he was caught in Glenn Maxwell’s first over as he made room to drive on the off-side. James Taylor promised the decisive innings. He oozes common sense and then suddenly embarks on an exotic shot after a frantic little flurry down the wicket. Once this tactic sent the ball over the head of a startled Mitchell Marsh for six. Later, on 49, he tried something similar against Shane Watson and was bowled. Watson, wonderfully animated in the field, gave him a piercing glance as he left the crease.
Eoin Morgan flickered before gloving a gentle bouncer from Watson and then England subsided, losing Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes to consecutive deliveries from Nathan Coulter-Nile. This time there were no late heroics from Moeen Ali and the game was up.
In fact it was Australia who provided the lower-order batting of quality. Against the odds Matthew Wade, batting at seven, delivered the most telling knock of their innings, a brisk 71 from 50 balls, and the lead role in an unbeaten 112-run partnership with Marsh for the seventh wicket.
His knock began with a note of high farce or bleak tragedy depending on one’s allegiance. Before Wade had scored he summoned Watson for a single. It was a bad call for a variety of reasons. The ball was too close to the man at cover, who just happened to be the best fieldsman on the English side, Ben Stokes. And Watson was his running partner, a man unjustly exposed.
Watto dutifully set off towards the wicketkeeper but with a look of horror on his face rather like a prop forward given the ball seventy yards from the opponent’s line and with no one in front of him. He had no option except to keep running as fast as he could, which was nowhere near fast enough. Usain Bolt might have struggled to make his ground. Watson had no chance; his was an unreviewable run-out and he duly set off for the pavilion at a pace that would be regarded as slow at a funeral.
Wade to his credit did not dwell on his mistake. Instead he made amends. He cracked 12 boundaries to most corners of this vast arena and ran impishly with Marsh. Together they took the total beyond 300, a substantial target in any era though one, which might have left the Australians a little disappointed in this one. After a dozen overs it looked as if they would get more.
The openers were still there timing the ball sweetly; England’s pacemen appeared toothless on a benign pitch. Yet none of Australia’s top six could go beyond David Warner’s 59 and the architect of their downfall was Adil Rashid, who ended up with four wickets.
He took two of them with big full tosses, which is a bit of a bonus. However, leg-spinners’ full tosses can often possess a little more venom than those of finger-spinners. When extra spin is imparted via the wrist the ball dips more quickly at the end of its flight path. This makes those full tosses slightly harder to hit. Even so Rashid was fortunate that Joe Burns and Steve Smith both succumbed to such deliveries.
However, Warner and George Bailey were properly defeated by a googly and – possibly – a slider (if it was not a slider there should be no denials from Rashid).
