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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Sport
Adam Collins (earlier) and Simon Burnton (now)

England beat Australia by five wickets in first one-day international – as it happened

Jason Roy
Jason Roy has passed 150 as he near single-handedly drives England towards victory against Australia. Photograph: Scott Barbour/Getty Images

And that’s all from me. It’s been, quite literally, a blast. Bye!

And Eoin Morgan:

It really does sum up the character of the bloke. He was always part of our plans, even when we managed to leave him out. I would have taken 304 at the start. 300 these days isn’t such a big total to chase down. It wasn’t a huge task. It’s important to keep our feet on the ground. Australia will come back hard at us, but certainly it’s a nice way to start the series.

Jason Roy is the man of the match. He is a pretty downbeat talker.

Really honoured to be selected. Last season was a tough season, so to be selected was incredibly special. But that was just a little blip in hopefully a long career. I didn’t really know what to do [when I completed the century] I was so happy. First time here, what an incredible place. We had a lot of fun out there. He even started singing his own song, which was pretty funny.

Steve Smith talks:

That was some innings from Roy. Jeez, he played spectacularly well. We probably left ourselves a few short in the first innings, the wickets probably stopped us going as hard as we liked at the back end. 340, 350, that’s what we were after. We didn’t start as we’d like with the ball either. We need to start playing some better cricket and getting a few wins in this format.

What is remarkable about that is how unremarkable England made achieving something so remarkable appear. After the opening five-over blitz it was pretty much a long-distance stroll, thanks to a fabulous if not entirely risk-free innings from Jason Roy. Joe Root was outstanding on rhythm guitar, and after a one-sided Ashes series the ODI version could be a cracker.

It's over! England win by five wickets!

48.5 overs: England 308-4 (Root 91*, Moeen 5*) Travis Head bowls, with a field set to save singles. Both batsmen get one anyway, and then Moeen bats down the ground for a winning four!

Updated

48th over: England 302-4 (Root 90, Moeen 0) Stoinis returns, and Root thumps down the ground for four, leaving England on the precipice of victory. They remain there when the over ends four balls later, three runs from the finish line.

WICKET! Buttler c Starc b Stoinis 4 (England 302-4)

With England one good hit from victory Buttler sends the ball looping straight to Starc at deep midwicket!

47th over: England 297-4 (Root 84, Buttler 4) Cummins bowls his 10th over. Buttler, after six deliveries and a single run, drives through the covers for three. The highest ever second-innings ODI score in Australia is 299; England are but two runs away. For victory they need eight from 18 balls.

46th over: England 292-4 (Root 82, Buttler 1) Tye’s final over of the day brings just two singles. England are 13 runs from victory, and seem in no great hurry to get there.

45th over: England 289-4 (Root 81, Buttler 0) A couple of wickets give Australia hope of, well, probably not victory, but at least encouragement. Fielders come in. A slip arrives. And Cummins slams in a short ball that clears Buttler so emphatically that a wide is called. England need 16 runs at precisely three an over.

WICKET! Morgan c Smith b Cummins 1 (England 288-4)

Morgan slaps the ball straight to Smith at point, who takes a smart high catch effortlessly.

44th over: England 285-3 (Root 78, Morgan 1) Roy has come back out to watch the remainder of the game, and not only is he not receiving emergency physiotheapeutical attention, he doesn’t even have any strapping on the left hand he seemed to troubled by, so presumably all is well.

43rd over: England 282-3 (Root 76, Morgan 0) OK everyone, put your record books away. Now it’s just about England knocking off the required runs.

WICKET! Roy c sub (Richardson) b Starc 180 (England 281-3)

Roy goes! He sends a pull spiralling into the air, and this time it goes straight to a fielder. He pulls off his glove with a grimace, and departs to a standing ovation. It has been a spectacular innings, and he has made a difficult run chase seem totally straightforward.

42nd over: England 279-2 (Roy 179, Root 74) A lovely cover drive from Root is fielded; England run two, which might have been three had Roy not slipped as he turned for the second run. He seems to have hurt his left wrist in doing so, and is now shaking his left hand, shaking his head and muttering to himself. He still scores a single off Tye’s final delivery, but the physio comes on at the end of the over.

41st over: England 274-2 (Roy 177, Root 71) Starc’s penultimate over. Roy hits to fine leg, where Zampa fields well to prevent a boundary. Still, the two runs take him to 175, making this now the greatest ODI innings ever seen in Melbourne.

40th over: England 269-2 (Roy 173, Root 70) Tye bowls straight and slow, and Roy rushes through his shot and misses it completely. The next is hoiked over mid-off, again dropping just over the fielder. This is now England’s greatest ever ODI innings.

39th over: England 262-2 (Roy 170, Root 67) Roy has had a lot of success hitting high to deep midwicket, which has been left empty throughout, and he does it again here and gets four more runs for it. The partnership is now at 202, and Roy needs just one more run to equal Hales’s all-time record England ODI score. Surely the only thing England still have to worry about is how many records they will break.

38th over: England 252-2 (Roy 162, Root 65) Zampa completes his allocation, and England feast on it. Root pulls the first for four, and a single later Roy hoists the ball high down the ground for the biggest six of the innings.

37th over: England 239-2 (Roy 154, Root 60) Roy’s still got a little way to go to reach the top of that list, mind, where Rohit Sharma’s 171* in Perth two years ago currently resides. I should probably admit that Rob Smyth tipped me off about that stat. Australia’s biggest ODI innings on home soil is Warner’s 179 against Pakistan a year ago, but Chris Gayle’s 215 against Zimbabwe at the World Cup in 2015 takes the Australia-based all-comers title. Meanwhile, Cummins bowls and England score four singles.

36th over: England 235-2 (Roy 152, Root 58) Everything Roy touches turns to runs at the moment. He takes a wild swing at Zampa’s delivery, and gets the slightest of bottom-edges that takes it past the keeper and away for four. A couple of balls later the batsman brings up his 150, and two more runs will make this the second-biggest score by a touring batsman in an ODI in Australia, a spot currently held by Viv Richards’ unbeaten 153 at the MCG in 1979.

35th over: England 224-2 (Roy 145, Root 58) Cummins bowls, and Roy tries to leave the last and fails, accidentally top-inside-edging it to deep fine leg for a single. “Where’s Nathan Lyon?” ponders Rob Lewis. Nowhere near Australia’s ODI squad: he’s only played 13 ODIs, the latest in August 2016.

34th over: England 224-2 (Roy 142, Root 57) Zampa’s back, and Roy thwacks his first ball through midwicket, a fielder eventually stopping it inches from the rope. A single later he mishits the ball high into the Melbourne sky, but again it drops safe – there’s a brief but fairly spectacular highlights reel of Roy almost-outs to be fashioned here – but when the same batsman attempts a similar shot from the final ball of the over he absolutely nails it, and it sails away for six.

33rd over: England 212-2 (Roy 131, Root 56) Oooof! Root nudges the ball to point, and Smith runs to his right, collects and takes a shy at the stumps at the bowler’s end. It doesn’t miss by much, with Root well short of his ground! A couple more singles, and then Roy swats Starc through midwicket for a fine four, nicely timed.

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32nd over: England 204-2 (Roy 125, Root 54) England roll on beyond 200, and Roy celebrates by reaching the long leg boundary for four to take his side’s score to precisely 100 runs short of Australia’s. The home side need a quick clatter of wickets if England aren’t going to stroll their way all the way home (well, to victory; they’ll probably fly home when the time comes).

31st over: England 195-2 (Roy 120, Root 51) Root swaps bats before the over begins but doesn’t get a chance to us it: it starts with Starc bowling a slightly wide yorker to Roy, who opens his legs and slips the ball between them. Four dots later Roy scores another two, and with six off the over it’s all good for England.

30th over: England 189-2 (Roy 114, Root 51) Mitchell Marsh, scorer of precisely half a century a little earlier, does his first bowling. Halfway through the over Finch is shifted deep to the long-on boundary, and Roy immediately drives the ball a couple of meters to his left, the fielder coming round and inexplicably diving over it.

29th over: England 182-2 (Roy 108, Root 50) Starc’s first ball is pinged to cover by Root, who runs a single to reach 50, but only one further run follows. Meanwhile, I can’t disagree with anything Guy Hornsby says here:

28th over: England 180-2 (Roy 107, Root 49) For the first time since the 10th over, England reach double figures. It starts when Zampa’s opener is reverse-swept for four, and the rest are all for singles but for Root’s beautifully timed shot through midwicket for four more. Australia are in deep trouble now and sinking fast; can Starc break this partnership? We’re about to find out …

Jason Roy completes his century!

27th over: England 168-2 (Roy 101, Root 43) Root snatches a single, Roy hits Cummins’ next delivery in the air over midwicket and runs three, which he completes with a leap and a pumped fist! It took him 92 balls to reach his hundred – 32 for the first half-century, and 60 for the second.

26th over: England 162-2 (Roy 97, Root 41) Unbelievable scenes! Roy is told by Root to review but seemed almost apologetic about calling for it, so convinced was he of his fate, but having survived the closest of shaves the very next delivery is spanked down the ground for six, leaving Finch on the boundary grasping at thin air as the ball flies a foot or so out of reach!

Not out!

The Australians celebrate, but too soon! The impact was outside the line, by the smidgiest smidgeon, and Roy survives!

WICKET! Roy is out lbw here! Or is he?

He’s reviewed it, but it looked pretty clear to me!

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25th over: England 155-2 (Roy 91, Root 40) Roy moves into the 90s by scooping the ball into the air again, a wildly imperfect shot but it goes over midwicket and lands safely for a couple. The run rate has been climbing, though, and at the halfway stage England are just a shadow over halfway there, now requiring precisely 150 runs from 150 deliveries.

24th over: England 151-2 (Roy 89, Root 39) Zampa continues, as does England’s remorseless single-accumulation. Four here, and a wide. Meanwhile, this has just gone live: Rob Smyth’s guide to how England can win back the Ashes:

23rd over: England 146-2 (Roy 89, Root 37) Cummins continues, and Roy fiddles the ball to backward square leg and starts running, slowly at first. Australia are slow to react, and Roy spots it and speeds up. This is well spotted and nicely judged, Roy eventually completing his second run a heartbeat before the ball is returns to the wicket. Five off the over.

22nd over: England 141-2 (Roy 86, Root 35) Zampa slows everything back down again. Three dots and three singles.

21st over: England 138-2 (Roy 85, Root 33) Cummins returns, and Roy top-edges his first delivery out of Paine’s reach for four, and then spoons the ball into the air but over Starc at mid-on, stuttering but surviving. A single later Root hits the ball wide of Smith at backward point, who dives backwards and to his left to catch it on the bounce, a bravura act of fieldsmanship.

20th over: England 130-2 (Roy 78, Root 32) Four more singles off Zampa. It’s starting to look like Roy has played himself out of form here, as he’s now mistiming most of the shots he’s attempting. He’s still there, mind, shuffling towards a not-so-distant ton. Australia need to change the direction of the game, and will now try a bit more pace.

19th over: England 126-2 (Roy 76, Root 30) Stoinis is bowling pretty ho-hum medium-pacers, but England are in no mood to particularly punish him for it. Two singles and a two, and another mistimed swing from Roy at the last, which arrives so slowly that by the time it does he has finished his shot entirely and misses it.

18th over: England 122-2 (Roy 75, Root 27) No post-beverage acceleration from England, who score three singles from Zampa’s second over.

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17th over: England 119-2 (Roy 73, Root 26) Close! Stoinis bowls, Roy swipes and the ball heads in the air towards Starc at mid on, but safely over him! The batsmen run two, Roy gets a reminder of his mortality and there is no further swiping, slashing, crashing or bashing of any sort. Time for some drinks.

16th over: England 114-2 (Roy 69, Root 25) Now Zampa has a bowl. England get six off the over, in the shape of four ones and a two, and seem happy at the moment to take a Sunday afternoon stroll towards their target.

15th over: England 108-2 (Roy 67, Root 21) There have been no boundaries in the last five overs, as both the bowlers and batsmen have reduced the pace after a whirlwind opening. Australia were 80-3 at this point; England need 5.65 an over.

14th over: England 103-2 (Roy 64, Root 19) Roy lets himself off the leash, taking a wild swing at Stoinis’s first delivery and missing it completely. Four singles follow, while the stumps at the bowler’s end save four more as Root drives into them.

13th over: England 99-2 (Roy 62, Root 17) The calm between the storms. Intelligent bowling from Tye, who concedes but two runs.

12th over: England 97-2 (Roy 61, Root 16) Consolidation for England. Dot, dot, one, dot, one, two. Here’s the shot with which Roy brought up his 50, a beauty:

11th over: England 93-2 (Roy 58, Root 15) Tye’s variation in pace seems to be discomfiting the batsmen, who rein in the violent slashes and instead poke and prod and nurdle their way to six runs, in the shape of four ones and a two.

10th over: England 87-2 (Roy 54, Root 13) Stoinis has a bowl, and Root clips past square leg for four, forcing the fielder at long leg to sprint around the boundary in a vain effort to stop it. And then he works the next to fine leg, forcing the same fielder to sprint the other way this time. A single brings Roy on strike, and he pretty deliberately pushes the ball high and wide of Paine and over some empty grass for four.

9th over: England 76-2 (Roy 50, Root 6) AJ Tye, after his single-delivery, boundary-finding batting cameo, has his first ODI bowl. Roy is initially pretty careful, not even trying to score from the first four deliveries. But then he fetches a wide delivery and turns it through midwicket – a pretty spectacular effort – for the boundary that brings up his half-century, off 32 balls.

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8th over: England 72-2 (Roy 46, Root 6) Root gets off the mark with a four, sent back past the bowler, and later clips off his pads to midwicket for a couple. Six off the over, but it all feels quite sedate.

7th over: England 66-2 (Roy 46, Root 0) England turn town the aggression a notch or two, but Roy still finds time to thwack over mid-on for four. There would surely have been four more off the last, had the ball not hit the stumps at the bowler’s end.

6th over: England 60-2 (Roy 40, Root 0) Cummins pitches the ball fuller and turns off the run tap. Roy defends the first three deliveries, but then gets one too straight and Roy flicks it through midwicket, running three. Then Cummins goes short to Hales and gets instant reward. England are scoring rapidly – just the three off this over, mind – but losing wickets pretty quickly as well.

WICKET! Hales c Stoinis b Cummins 4 (England 60-2)

Cummins bowls short, Hales leans back and swings and the ball hits the toe of the bat, loops into the air and is caught by Stoinis at midwicket!

5th over: England 57-1 (Roy 36, Hales 4) Two close shaves for Roy here – the first ball of Starc’s over thumps his pad but is going a few inches high, and then later he totally misjudges a shot, which clips the shoulder of his bat, flies behind him, over the slips and lands safely between them and third man. There’s also a lovely boundary, England’s 50th run coming from the 26th delivery of the innings, driven straight, past mid-on for four. And then Bairstow goes, Hales arrives and he hits the final ball of another action-packed over through midwicket, not perfectly but forcefully enough to get off the mark with a four.

WICKET! Bairstow c Paine b Starc 14 (England 53-1)

Starc bowls short and wide, Bairstow is a bit tentative and feathers a top edge through to the keeper!

4th over: England 47-0 (Roy 32, Bairstow 14) This is just terrific stuff. Roy hoists the ball over the deep square leg boundary for six, the ball clearing the rope by six inches or so, and then drives the next through midwicket just beautifully, off the middle of the bat, pure timing. Then he lifts the ball over cover but with insufficient force to get another boundary. No matter, they run three.

3rd over: England 33-0 (Roy 19, Bairstow 13) Maximum! After a couple of dots Starc bowls a bit short, Roy swings big but misjudges and it clips his top edge and loops over everyone and everything and lands 10 yards behind the rope! The next is flicked nicely down the leg for four, the one after that thumped over mid off for four more, and after three overs England have knocked off 10.8% of their target!

2nd over: England 19-0 (Roy 5, Bairstow 13) Cummins’ second delivery lands right in Bairstow’s hitting zone. He doesn’t even move his feet as he swipes his bat and sends the ball over midwicket for four. Then twice he works the ball to Starc at deep fine leg and runs two, the fielder sending the ball on the second occasion to the bowler’s end, where Roy was well short but nobody was waiting to collect. Bairstow, pulse racing after all this sprinting, sends the final delivery down the ground for four to complete a fine over for England.

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1st over: England 7-0 (Roy 5, Bairstow 1) Mitchell Starc gets proceedings under way with a wide, but as wides go it’s not the most discouraging, a bit of swing involved. There follows a couple of scrambled singles and then a fine over-ending boundary from Roy, splitting the field and zipping past point.

England’s reply is about to start! “Australia have never failed to win here after scoring 272 or over?” boggles Ian Copestake. “Has the MCG hosted ODIs in the last five years?” Three of those games were in the last five years, though one of them only just, played as it was in February 2013. Against England in 2015 they smashed 342 runs and England fell way short, but times have changed since then …

Hello world!

Well, this is all set up rather nicely. Whatever else, it isn’t going to be boring. Australia at this stage have a narrow advantage, which could rapidly widen with a couple of early wickets: after all, this is the 13th time that a team batting first has scored 300 or more at the MCG, and the last 12 all won the game. But then the last time any team scored 290+ in a first innings here – India in 2016 – it was chased down with more than an over to spare. All outcomes are possible, and England will feel they have the batting chops to make this happen. As Jimmy Anderson put it on TMS: “I think England will be the happier of the two teams. The pitch is very good and has got better as the innings went on.” Time will tell, and not much of it either.

Updated

England require 305 to win

50th over: Australia 304-8 (Tye 4, Starc o) Andrew Tye on debut has one ball to face, the final of the innings. He hacks Plunkett out to midwicket in the air and Bairstow has a crack at taking a diving catch. It’s the low percentage option, unable to complete the snaffle with the ball running over the boundary rope. So, that’s eight from the last over, Plunkett finishing with 3/71. Australia made 44 from the final five overs.

Right, that’s it from me. Fantastic ton from Finch and very handy, contrasting half-centuries from Marsh and Stoinis. Nice, fast track that Wood was able to exploit early on then Moeen did a great job in the middle overs. All told, set up nicely. I’ll leave you with Simon Burnton. Thanks for your company. Bye!

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WICKET! Cummins c Roy b Plunkett 12 (Australia 300-8)

Cummins gets a fat top edge over the keeper to tick the board over to 300, but can’t clear long on with his next swing. Plunkett gets a third. Safe hands from Roy down there.

WICKET! Paine c Moeen b Plunkett 12 (Australia 296-6)

Nice take from Moeen, Paine top edging out to the deep backward square leg rope. Harder than it looks in the long shadows that the huge MCG grandstands create at this time of day.

49th over: Australia 296-6 (Paine 27, Cummins 8) Wood’s final over. So Plunkett will take the 50th. It’s frantic, but they find eight runs in this penultimate set through hard running from shots in the direction of the the sweepers, but no boundaries. Rashid should have caught Paine, but wasn’tclose enough at fine leg when the ball arrived, his eventual dive falling short. Wood’s day worth 1/49 from ten on paper, but his earlier work will generate plenty of headlines. Excellent first day back in an England shirt.

48th over: Australia 288-6 (Paine 26, Cummins 2) Singles from three of the final four balls in the over. All told, the over couldn’t have gone much better for England. Woakes has bounced back well in this final spell.



WICKET! Stoinis c Root b Woakes 60 (Australia 285-6)

Stonis tries to play the crosscourt forehand but doesn’t make quite good enough contact, Root completing a sharp, low catch on the edge of the 30m circle. Woakes into the book. Relief for the visitors, who were surely sensing the damage Stoinis could do in the final couple of overs.

47th over: Australia 285-5 (Stoinis 60, Paine 25) Very clever wrists from Stonis, flicking Plunkett over the man on the 45 for four. That takes him to 50! 37 balls to get there. Celebrates by GOING BIGGER with a massive strike over the sightscreen. That’s a mighty wallop. Plunkett hasn’t done much wrong there, landing the slower ball in the right area, but this man can do things most players can’t. A real talent. David Hussey on ABC radio is predicting he’ll be a Test Match player sooner rather than later. 16 from the over; Australia’s best of the day. 54 from the last five overs.

46th over: Australia 269-5 (Stoinis 46, Paine 24) What power from Stoinis. Gets a low full toss from Woakes, and hits it so hard past the bowler that straight long-off has no chance. Five other runs in 1s and 2s. Probably a good result for Australia that Paine can’t score from the last delivery, giving Stoinis the strike again for the new Plunkett over.

45th over: Australia 260-5 (Stoinis 38, Paine 23) Tim Paine’s turn to take it to Plunkett, lifting over mid-on to collect one boundary then swivelling to pull the next beyond backward square leg for another. 12 taken from the over with a couple of singles at the end. Has 21 taken from his two overs in this spell, but has to be 47 and 49. “Has any bowler tried a yorker yet?” asks John Starbuck. “They were all the go towards the end of the innings, once upon a time.” Not to my knowledge. A few full tosses, mind.

44th over: Australia 248-5 (Stoinis 37, Paine 12) Resourceful from Stoinis, lifting Wood over point and nearly over the boundary rope. Hitting stride at the right time. A single to each of them before Stoinis pushes a couple more to midwicket to finish. Eight from it. 300 still quite reachable for Australia.

Just the way to start your Sunday morning back in England during the interval.



43rd over: Australia 240-5 (Stoinis 30, Paine 11) Plunkett back. Has four overs to bowl on the spin to finish here. Wouldn’t want to get it wrong. Stoinis flays a couple behind point to begin. Dropped! Barely a chance, but in his follow through Plunkett gets one hand to the Paine drive. That makes four slight chances not to go England’s way. All extremely tough. Let’s himself down in response, dropping short to Stoinis who can take his pick where he smacks it on the leg side, selecting the midwicket boundary.

42nd over: Australia 231-5 (Stoinis 22, Paine 10) Wood too quick for Paine, who tries to uppercut but can’t make contact. Lovely drive in response though from the Tasmanian, who locates the boundary for the first time out at extra cover. Honours shared with six taken from the over.

41st over: Australia 225-5 (Stoinis 21, Paine 5) Woakes best over of the day at an important time. Four singles. Stonis into the 20s.

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40th over: Australia 221-5 (Stoinis 19, Paine 3) Rashid on for his tenth now. So they don’t fancy bowling spinners in happy hour, then. A leg slip in place for Stonis but it matters little when Rashid fishes up a full toss. Over the midwicket rope she goes! The stage set for the West Australian to make a real mess of England in the final ten. “Happy hour has arrived,” Jim Maxwell says on TMS. Rashid finishes with 2/73 from his ten.



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39th over: Australia 212-5 (Stoinis 11, Paine 2) Woakes on for his third crack today. Has four overs to squeeze out after struggling earlier on. Well, doesn’t concede a boundary in this set, so that’s an improvement. Five from it in the smaller denominations.

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38th over: Australia 207-5 (Stoinis 7, Paine 1) Paine the new man, playing his first ODI in nearly seven years. What a great story his summer has been. Off the mark through the covers, then Stonis finds one to midwicket in order to keep the strike.


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WICKET! Marsh b Rashid 50 (Australia 205-5)

Straight through him! A well-directed top spinner that crashed into leg stump. Marsh tried to make room and flay though the off-side, but without the turn he was playing for got himself all cramped up by the time the ball arrived.

37th over: Australia 205-4 (M Marsh 50, Stoinis 6) Wood gives Stonis something to hit on his pads and he doesn’t miss out behind square for a boundary. The Australian 200 up with it. To finish the over, Marsh pushes to point to complete his half-century in 66 balls. Entered with Australia having plenty of work to do in the middle overs and handled the situation well.

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36th over: Australia 198-4 (M Marsh 48, Stoinis 1) Marcus Stonis! In his first ODI at home after impressing away since they last played on Australian soil. This could be fun. I can imagine these two becoming the Bash Brothers of this team leading into the World Cup campaign of 2019. He’s off the mark first ball through square leg. That’s Moeen Ali done, finishing with 1-39 from his ten. Bowled nicely.

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WICKET! Finch c Bairstow b Moeen 107 off 119 (Australia 196-4)

Finch holes out to midwicket. Lost a bit of control in the over, playing and missing making room, suggesting that he was tiring a bit after a superb ton. Doesn’t get enough on the stroke that finishes his stay, Bairstow does the rest in the deep under the shadow of the Ponsford Stand. A well-earned wicket for Moeen Ali.

35th over: Australia 196-3 (Finch 107, M Marsh 47) Hooray! Mark Wood is back! The first two runs (of the three) in the over come from thigh pads, giving a sense of the pace he is able to generate. Finch pulls another short one to fine leg, keeping the strike.

“I saw your computer crashed when poor Ali bowled,” notes Ian Copestake. “Perhaps a case of “Mind the browser window, Moeen.” Very good. Miss you, Tino.

34th over: Australia 193-3 (Finch 106, M Marsh 47) Great response from Moeen after back to back overs from the other end went for 13 each. Finch took a single to square leg first ball, but the off-breaker tied Marsh to the crease thereafter, recording five dots.

Aaron Finch brings up his century!

33rd over: Australia 192-3 (Finch 105, M Marsh 47) Here he goes! What a way to do it! 112 balls to get to the ton, raised with a towering strike over long-on. He’s played some excellent innings for his country but this would be one of the very best. Was out of the ODI team this time last year, but there’s no doubting his place right now. Marsh has a crack at the other end of the over, smashing Rashid straight over his head, splitting long-off and long-on for four more. Bad error to leave the leggie on there, I reckon. They’ve put on 114. This could get ugly.

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32nd over: Australia 179-3 (Finch 97, M Marsh 42) Moeen again getting through these overs with a minimum of fuss. Four singles. Finch not given a chance to swing his arms to 100. Won’t hesitate when the opportunity is presented.

31st over: Australia 175-3 (Finch 95, M Marsh 40) BOOM, BOOM! SIX, SIX! One each for the Australian pair, who are really getting away from England now. Marsh gets back in the crease to slap Rashid flat over midwicket. Finch then lifts him over long-on for another! He’s both into the 90s and half way through them in the space of a shot. The biggest over of the innings, 13 from it. Mark Wood. Get him on. Now.

30th over: Australia 162-3 (Finch 89, M Marsh 33) Runs from every ball of this Moeen over, but five singles and a brace. Four of those shots to long-on. Ebony Rainford-Brent on TMS wants to see Mark Wood have a two over burst to get into the Australians. Given he has five left, I don’t mind that either. I missed before that Finch has reached 3000 ODI runs.

29th over: Australia 155-3 (Finch 85, M Marsh 30) Radhid on for Woakes, who has been dragged after a couple of overs this time. They will need to get him through his ten through, with only five frontline bowlers. Right? Ah yes, Aaron Finch sweeping. Gee he’s done that well today. Beats the man at the 45 with more control and timing. Well on his way. Can’t wait to tweet all sorts of Chris Finch nonsense when he gets to 100. Tradition is tradition. Four other singles to the sweepers. Moeen outbowling him today.

28th over: Australia 147-3 (Finch 79, M Marsh 28) Moeen has gone for 25 from his six overs, which England would take. Hasn’t conceded a boundary. Four singles here to the sweepers at midwicket and long on. Bowling to his field.

27th over: Australia 143-3 (Finch 77, M Marsh 26) Too straight from Woakes, who is battling here today. Finch does’t miss out, helping the ball on its way to the fine leg rope. He’s then down to third man for one, Marsh doing the same through cover. Nice little stand this, worth 65 in 78 balls.



26th over: Australia 134-3 (Finch 71, M Marsh 23) Just a couple of singles from the Moeen over. I’d like to tell you more about it, but my browser crashed half way through.

25th over: Australia 132-3 (Finch 70, M Marsh 22) Woakes back for his second shift of the day. Singles taken by both players early in the set through the leg side. Later, Finch launches into a full-blooded pull shot that gets to the rope in no time at all. His 8th boundary to go with the six as he moves into the 70s. “Good morning Adam.” G’day’ Johnny Starbuck. “Nice to see the OBO is still the same shape, not squashed up and budgy like the not so Big Paper is going to be. Also nice to see a good start by England. It’s a long while since I could write that.” Give it a chance.

24th over: Australia 125-3 (Finch 64, M Marsh 21) BIG AGAIN! Marsh has played Moeen cautiously. Until now. The off-spinner threw it up and the West Australian responded with a full swing of the bat. It has travelled 97 metres according to the TV. Yup, have that. Brings a brief delay as they try and locate the ball within the black tarps alongside the sightscreen.



23rd over: Australia 118-3 (Finch 63, M Marsh 15) Plunkett into his sixth over now from the southern end. Nothing much going on here, three singles, all off the pads. The England quick keeping them honest with a nice straight line at a decent clip.

22nd over: Australia 115-3 (Finch 61, M Marsh 14) DROPPED! Moeen’s full toss is hit back to him by Finch, but too quickly to take cleanly. The third half chance in the field for England so far in the innings. Need one to stick to really get stuck into the home side’s lower order. “Anyone else impressed by Jimmy Anderson’s commentating on the BBC?” asks Martin Wrght. “Not as cocky as Michael Vaughan, not as fond of his own jokes as Graeme Swann. A new career beckons?” Yup, he is excellent.

21st over: Australia 111-3 (Finch 59, M Marsh 11) They are known as the accumlation overs, but Australia aren’t doing a lot of that right now, Plunkett back into the attack and conceding only a single and a wide. Could easily have added his second wicket too, Marsh diving full-stretch at cover to snaffle a wayward drive from Marsh. Came within about a foot or so of dragging it in.

20th over: Australia 109-3 (Finch 59, M Marsh 11) Marsh quite conservative against Moeen. Doesn’t need a lot of balls to leave a lasting mark on a game, but taking his time for now. Down the ground for a single at the back end of the over, Finch flaying a couple through cover as well.

Remember the Bay 13 I described before play? Not so much these days. All of those bays now devoted to what the marketing types have dubbed ‘The Lawn’.



19th over: Australia 106-3 (Finch 57, M Marsh 10) Big! That’s a nice way to celebrate getting to 50, smacking Rashid over the long-on fence from down on one knee. Consider the strength and timing needed to pull that off. Finch made a ton against England the last time they played on this ground in the 2015 World Cup. He has to be every chance of doing the same today. Singles exchanged down the ground making eight for the over.

18th over: Australia 98-3 (Finch 50, M Marsh 9) Moeen is on. Finch is still comfortable, cutting a couple then turning another. Marsh less so, beaten outside the line. But then does drive him straight. Finch again, through midwicket for one to keep the strike and bring up his half-century. 65 balls to get there, seven boundaries along the way. By far Australia’s most settled player so far.

17th over: Australia 93-3 (Finch 46, M Marsh 8) Finch doing very little wrong here, getting down low to sweep Rashid through the air and to the rope at square leg. Smashed that. Gives Marsh the strike later in the over, who is happy enough defending while he plays himself in.

16th over: Australia 88-3 (Finch 41, M Marsh 8) Marsh lucky not to fall to the pace of Plunkett, gloving down the legside but just away from the gloves of Buttler. To the boundary it goes. Better to finish the over, middling a clip to the sweeper for a couple. They grab a drink.

15th over: Australia 80-3 (Finch 41, M Marsh 1) Well, only two from it as both Marsh then Finch pick out fielders instead of gaps with their drives. For England’s part, they have picked up two wickets and conceded 27 runs in the last five overs.

“A dream come true for me to see England play at the MCG today,” emails Nick Saint. “There is a real buzz around Mark Wood’s pace in the stadium from the Aussies, they seem impressed. I’m impressed with a$30 entrance fee for great seats. ECB take note, free to air, cheap to watch and I see plenty of kids playing cricket in the park.”

Well said. I said to Vish when we were walking in earlier that I’ve been to the MCG hundreds and hundreds of times, but it remains meaningful every time.

NOT OUT! It’s a beautiful googly, completely deceiving Finch, but it has spun a long way and missed by about two stumps width according to ball tracker.

HAS RASHID TRAPPED FINCH? We’re going upstairs to find out. Morgan reviews!

WICKET! Head b Plunkett 5 (Australia 78-3)

Chop on! Was problematic for the Australians in the Test Match here and their white-ball number four has dragged the last ball of Plunkett’s over back onto his woodwork. Not a lot of footwork there, trying to carve through point. “A really energetic start from England,” says Jimmy Anderson on TMS.

14th over: Australia 78-3 (Finch 41, M Marsh 0)

13th over: Australia 76-2 (Finch 40, Head 5) Shot. Head leans into a wider Rashid delivery and beats the man at cover. Doesn’t take long for the South Australian captain to get busy.

12th over: Australia 68-2 (Finch 37, Head 0) Wood has been replaced by Plunkett, who has swung around to the Members End after one over from the southern. Lovely work from Finch pulling well enough to beat the sweeper to the rope. Struck that so well. Less so next up, edging through slip! Very catchable height, but no catchers in place for him at this stage. Infuriating for the bowler. “It’s the job of the bowler there,” says Jimmy Anderson on TMS. “The bowler has a responsibility as well as the captain.” Of course, the edge went to the rope making ten from the over.



11th over: Australia 58-2 (Finch 27, Head 0) Rashid nearly gets Head first ball too! A neat top spinner, beating the left-hander’s outside edge - but only just.



WICKET! Smith c Buttler b Rashid 23 (Australia 58-2)

Smith is out! Rashid has done it! A pretty ordinary first set from the leggie including a couple of wides, but it matters little as he’s won the breakthrough that matters most. Not a huge amount of turn but the flight did Smith who was prodding well outside off stump.

10th over: Australia 52-1 (Finch 26, Smith 21) The case for Wood to keep going was clear, but this is the first of his overs where the Australians have looked at ease with five of the six deliveries scored off. Punctuated with a Smith clip, making the most of a full toss. Wood follows that with another good bouncer, but Smith has the time to help it down to fine leg for one. That might be his fill for now. 52 runs in the power play. Steady.

9th over: Australia 43-1 (Finch 25, Smith 13) Yep, there is a change from the GSS End, and it’s Liam Plunkett. Another England quick who could have played in the Tests had he been fit when they were looking for a Steve Finn replacement way back when. He’s straight at Finch, short of a length and into his gloves. Picks up a couple to midwicket, but nothing else. One over left in the power play but Finch in no hurry, suggesting that it is fairly tough going out there. Where was this pitch three weeks ago?



8th over: Australia 41-1 (Finch 23, Smith 13) Superb bowling! Wood beats Finch with a masterful delivery that squares up the opener. Not much he could do about that. Very lucky not to feather it behind. Only a single from it, down to fine leg off the final ball.

7th over: Australia 40-1 (Finch 22, Smith 13) Smith up the gears very quickly here. A couple behind square got him moving in the right direction, but it was his pull shot next ball really got the blood pumping. Two more clipping to midwicket with lovely timing before launching into a lavish cover drive making 12 runs for the over for the Australian captain. Might be a change from that end next up.


6th over: Australia 28-1 (Finch 22, Smith 1) All happening! Wood twice falls over in his follow through to begin, causing him to start yelling at the pitch. Smith tucks the second of those fine for one. Up against Smith, he’s bowled another perfect bouncer. Just as it was in the previous over, Finch was nowhere near it. To the opener’s credit, he kept his cool and pulled the next short ball behind square for four. Into the 20s.

Updated

5th over: Australia 23-1 (Finch 18, Smith 0) Woakes sprays his first one. Not quite on the mark here so far from the Great Southern Stand End. Better later in the over, finding Finch’s leading edge, but not in the air. Grabs a couple behind square to finish the over. That means Wood vs Smith next over from the get-go. Grab the popcorn. Fair to say twitter is exploding over Wood’s 12 balls so far.


4th over: Australia 20-1 (Finch 16, Smith 0) Another rapid bouncer at 90mph from Wood that goes straight through Finch who was trying to pull but was nowhere near it. Nice, soft hands to run down to third man that again gives Smith one ball to look at. BIG SHOUT FOR LBW! But turned down. He’s through the Aussie captain with raw pace again, crashing into his back pad. But Morgan doesn’t go upstairs. Looked a very good shout but probably too high to chance it. This is fantastic stuff.

“So we see the third explanation in as many weeks for why Maxwell isn’t in the side,” emails Scott Probst. “I think Maxi is better off making millions playing IPL and such and forgetting about the Australian selectors.” You couldn’t blame him if he did. But he won’t, because his Test dream is still very real. He wants that more than anything.

3rd over: Australia 17-1 (Finch 13, Smith 0) A couple of leg byes to begin, Buttler diving after the deflection came off Finch’s thigh. More convincing later in the over when Woakes again gives the Victorian some width, timing it nicely behind point. Some determined fielding from Roy might have just stopped the boundary, but they run four anyway. Keeps the strike clipping fine. He’s settled well.



2nd over: Australia 10-1 (Finch 8, Smith 0) Smith defends the one ball he has to see in the Wood over. Serious fast bowling, up around the 90mph mark. Cue the headlines asking where he was during the Ashes series.

WICKET! c b Wood 2 (Australia 10-1)

That was on the cards! England’s lack of pace such a focus through the Test series, but Mark Wood hurried up Warner on three occasions in the set getting the shoulder of the left-hander’s bat, lobbing high into the air with Root doing the rest at slip. That’s wonderful fast bowling. Bumped Warner to begin, then had him miscuing to cover point with Morgan unable to drag in a spectacular catch. It didn’t matter, the snorter coming two balls later to finish the job. England are away with a huge scalp.

1st over: Australia 8-0 (Finch 8, Warner 0) Shot! First ball of the game on-driven superbly by Aaron Finch. What a lovely way to begin. Then again through point! Really given that a whack, super timing. That’ll do.



Righto. After the anthems (sung from on top of the scoreboard) Aaron Finch and David Warner are racing out to start their work. Chris Woakes has the ball. PLAY!

Last time they met. Plunkett and Rashid took four apiece, then Stokes made a wonderful ton, to eliminate Australia from the Champions Trophy at the group stage. That was back in July. Looking back at it, quite a fun day with the Birmingham locals lapping it up. The players are out on the field for the formalities, including an Indigenous welcome followed by the national anthems.

Morgan on BBC. “I would like to think that we stay true to what we believe in, which is a positive and aggressive game,” the England captain said. He added that it will he tough adapting to the conditions as it always is playing away, but it won’t change their style. Believes the big numbers of England players in the BBL helps with that.

Smith on ABC. “I did think that they would bowl,” he said of the toss. “We probably would have done the same. It’s a bit tacky but it’ll harden up pretty quickly so we’re not hat disappointed.” Reflected on the poor year they had in the format in 2017 and noted the good opportunity it is start 2018 against a strong England side.

Team sheets. If you’re into the old-fashioned things that they are. Never change.

Opening the batting on the email. Peter Rowntree. G’day. “Like you looking forward to the upcoming ODI series. Always before a series like this some thoughts about its consequences. This time, if England lose badly, and recent history is not on their side, it is likely that Trevor Bayliss’s position would come under even more scrutiny following the poor Ashes series. Interesting too, to see how a completely different bowling attack will fare and the impact it could have back on the original Ashes selections. Can’t help but feel that Aussie conditions are very much suited to the bowling styles of ‘Our Adil’ and ‘Pudsey’ and both likley to do well in this series.”

Bowling first with two spinners is a bit funky. I’m into it. Then again, I was into Joe Root popping Australia in at Adelaide as well.

Andrew Benton is with us as well. “Hope England can justify the investments this time round. Must be tough for the players, they’re away from the UK (and their families?) for a hugely long stretch. Will Moeen have a chance to get back his Mojo? Will Steve Smith get his come-uppance? Will the technology help or hinder the umpiring decisions?”

Yes. No. Yes. They’ve missed a good opportunity here to automate (via the third umpire) the no-balls as they did in the 2016 trial with England and Pakistan. I’ll stop banging on about this one day.

Australian XI: David Warner, Aaron Finch, Steve Smith (c), Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Marcus Stoinis, Tim Paine (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Adam Zampa, Andrew Tye.

England XI: Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Alex Hales, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Liam Plunkett, Mark Wood

England have won the toss and have popped Australia in!

Don’t see that at Melbourne very often. I’ll grab some comments from the skipper in a tic where I’m sure he’ll explain his decision. Teams coming too. Australia have picked Andrew Tye for debut, that much we know from the cap presentation on the ground.

Dress ups. Over the last decade the ODI series in Australia has morphed into a giant dress up party (CA’s words). Can be a bit hit and miss with crowds having fallen away quite considerably in this format over that same period of time. But I do remember the glory days well. Especially today’s corresponding fixture in 1998-99. On that night, there was 90,000 into the ‘G and we were wild. Warney was captain. Flemmo bowled beautifully. Mark Waugh batted like a dream. I was in heaven.

The night is most well known for when the acting skipper had to run down to tell the old Bay 13 (where I was carrying on, of course) to stop pelting England players with cups during the Mexican Wave. He chucked on the gold helmet and went to work. I feel a bit like Kevin Arnold narrating a Wonder Years episode.

A night at the theatre.

Welcome to the first ODI from the MCG!

We’re finally here. The series that England came 10,000 miles to win this summer. Yep, we’re into the One Day Internationals! Adam Collins with you here to bring you all the action from the first innings at the MCG. After it really chucked it down with rain for 24 hours yesterday, it’s dry and humid today. So there should be no issues for getting away on time in about 70 minutes from now.

I still get a kick out of 50-over cricket, so I’m quite looking forward to this. Sometimes these series can feel a bit after the Lord Mayor’s Show, but with a World Cup around the corner (in England next year) this has a fair bit riding on it.

Especially the hosts. Australia will be defending that trophy when the time comes, but their form with the white ball is patchy at best over the last couple of years. In their most recent series, a four of India last October, Steve Smith’s men were comfortably beaten 4-1.

As for England, they were an absolute lock to win the Champions Trophy last year. Until, that is, they were smashed by Pakistan in the semi-final from nowhere really. On their day, the most aggressive side in the world. Great fun to watch. Hopefully, they can put on a show.

Vish is up in the press box with me here, writing the series for the paper. He’s penned a nice scene-setter overnight about the journey of Eoin Morgan’s side since the last time they played ODIs on Australian soil - the 2015 World Cup debacle. What they have now but didn’t last time around? Confidence, man. And plenty of it.

Confidence Man.

Adam will be here shortly. In the meantime, have a read of his report on how Australia’s Steve Smith has winning the Ashes in England on his bucket list. And some ODI series preview business:

Oh and then there’s this Joy of Six on 10th-wicket stands.

Updated

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