And with that, I’m off. It’s been a blast. Bye!
Morgan speaks!
Before a ball had been bowled we certainly would have taken 300 as a chase. It’s always comforting having guys down the order that can play well and have a lot of experience. Willey opened the floodgates. We had Australia 30-3, which was pretty unexpected. He took advantage of the conditions, of his chance as well. Him coming in and producing a performance like that I thought was outstanding.
Death bowling is something we’re trying to improve on. We’ll continue to do that over the next year or so.
We’ve got the momentum now. We’re growing in confidence. Tonight has helped a huge amount, and hopefully we’ll continue this on Sunday.
And the man of the match is … Eoin Morgan!
I hope that magnum of Champagne is corked.
Steve Smith says:
We didn’t get our bowling in the right places enough. The first and last ball of a lot of overs went for four, and that really cost us. I regretted batting first a little bit this morning. I guess it just didn’t work out well for us at the start. We’ve got to be more watchful at the beginning and make sure we’ve got wickets in the shed at the end. It’s a final now, and we’re certainly going to be up for the challenge.
So England canter to 304 runs, with nearly two overs to spare. It is the third highest run chase in their history (though really it’s the fourth – they needed to score 301 to beat West Indies at Bridgetown in 2007 and did, which is probably a smidgeon better than needing to score 300 and getting 304, but I’m being picky here) and was achieved with the very minimum of fuss and panic.
Maxwell batted excellently, bowled excellently and took two of the finest catches you’ll ever see. His team may have lost, but if he’s not Man of the Match there’s something wrong with the world.
England draw level in the series at 2-2 with one to play
That’s a fine run chase from England, who always looked in control of their destiny, bowled well and batted excellently, with everyone but Hales, out for a two-ball duck, contributing. Hales excepted every batsman but Plunkett, who was sent out with a give-it-some-welly brief and fell to an astonishing catch from Maxwell, failing to reach 30.
England win by three wickets!
48.2 overs: England 304-7 (Moeen 21, Willey 12)
And Willey finishes it in style, smashing down the ground for six!
Updated
48.1 overs: England 298-7 (Moeen 21, Willey 6)
Hastings bowls, and Moeen pulls to deep square leg for an easy single. Two needed.
48th over: England 297-7 (Moeen 20, Willey 6)
It starts with Willey driving to cover for one, but then they steal a second when Wade lets the ball clip the stumps and deflect away. A single leaves Moeen on strike, four runs needed, one decent hit from victory and four balls to find it. Instead he takes three to get a single. Anyway, England need three runs from 12 deliveries.
47th over: England 293-7 (Moeen 19, Willey 3)
A dot, a single, a dot, and then an inch-perfect sweep from Moeen that just evades the fielder and goes for four! Another couple of singles, and England need seven runs from three overs at 2.3 each.
46th over: England 286-7 (Moeen 14, Willey 1)
To be frank, the match should have stopped right there with Maxwell awarded the win, named man of the match, knighted, immediately immortalised in bronze and given the Nobel Prize for Defying Physics. Instead Moeen plays out a couple of dots and then gets three big runs. England need 14 from four overs at 3.5 each, and Maxwell will bowl the next.
Glenn Maxwell, flipping Physics the bird... #EngvAus pic.twitter.com/TeE93wcaD8
— Vithushan (@Vitu_E) September 11, 2015
WICKET! Another brilliant catch from Maxwell! Plunkett c Maxwell b Cummins 17
Another big hit from Plunkett. Maxwell takes the catch on the wicket, knows his momentum is carrying him backwards and over the rope, throws the ball back into the air, does indeed go over the rope, stops himself, leaps back onto the field, catching the ball in mid-air, and lands safe! That’s just awesome!
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45th over: England 282-6 (Moeen 11, Plunkett 17)
Pattinson’s back, and Plunkett welcomes him with a hammer blow through the covers for four. There follows a single and a post-review leg bye, before Plunkett pulls the trigger again, hoisting the ball down the ground for six! England need 18 runs and have five overs to get them, at 3.6 runs an over. England are edging towards victory here, unless wickets fall and fast.
Not out!
Mainly because the ball pitched about a foot outside leg stump.
REVIEW! Is Moeen Ali lbw here?
No, he isn’t. But Australia might as well chance their arm, eh?
44th over: England 269-6 (Moeen 11, Plunkett 5)
Cummins’ penultimate over starts with a couple of dots, and then Plunkett mishits to deep square leg for a single. Then another dot, before Moeen steers to deep backward point for a couple. No hurry here for England, it’s wickets they need to worry about. Talking of which, Moeen feathers the final ball through to the keeper, who drops it! That’s an absolute clanger! England need 31 from six overs at 5.17 each.
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43rd over: England 266-6 (Moeen 8, Plunkett 4)
Maxwell bowls, and Moeen pulls his first ball high in the air towards Burns on the boundary at deep midwicket, who catches it, lands with his heel on the rope, trips over it and falls over backwards. Six runs! The next ball goes – along the ground this time – to the same fielder, allowing the fans to do much cheerful “whooooaaaaaa…”ing as it heads in his direction, before he fields it cleanly. Then, the wicket. Plunkett comes in, and creams his first ball through midwicket for four. England need 34 runs from seven overs at 4.86 each.
OUT! Bairstow c Wade b Maxwell 31 (England 261-6)
Very many replays are shown. There is a great deal of rocking and rolling. But hotspot shows that, Bairstow having attempted a reverse sweep and missed the ball with the bat, there’s a tiny flicker of heat on the glove, and he’s gone! That’s a big moment in this match (potentially).
REVIEW! Is Bairstow out here?
I thought Australia had reviewed an earlier catch, but in fact though they signalled for a review, it wasn’t required – the umpires sent the decision upstairs all by themselves. Anyway, they think Bairstow has been caught behind here …
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42nd over: England 254-5 (Bairstow 31, Moeen 2)
Cummins bowls, and Bairstow cuts past backward point – no stopping that one, Mr Maxwell – for four. And then he totally messes one up, the ball slipping out of his hand early and flying to Bairstow at belly-button height. Somehow he scoops it over his left shoulder for six – a pretty brilliant shot, and it’s obviously called a no-ball. The follow-up is ludicrously wide, but Bairstow flings himself and his bat at it, and Australia get away with conceding one run when it would otherwise have been a wide, and another free hit. England require 46 runs from eight overs at 5.75 each.
41st over: England 241-5 (Bairstow 20, Moeen 1)
Maxwell, surely still buzzing after that catch, gets another chance to show off, this time with the ball. And he does pretty well again, conceding three singles. England require 59 runs from nine overs at 6.56 an over.
40th over: England 238-5 (Bairstow 18, Moeen 0)
Australia, needing wickets, bring back Cummins and Smith sticks himself at slip. The over starts with a dot, and it would have continued with a dot as well but for a Maxwell misfield. Then Bairstow inside-edges past the stumps – England have got away with a few of those today – and Morgan, back on strike, gives Maxwell a chance to atone for that misfield in the most eye-catching style! Slow-motion replays of that catch make it look even more wildly impressive. Just two off the over, and England need 62 at – yes – 6.2 each. I didn’t even use a calculator for that one.
WICKET! Morgan c Maxwell b Cummins 92 (England 238-5)
Cummins bowls wide to Maxwell, who cuts wide of Maxwell at backward point – but the fielder dives to his right, and holds it! That’s some smart catching!
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39th over: England 236-4 (Morgan 91, Bairstow 17)
Marsh bowls, after a change of ends, and Morgan sends the ball looping limply towards extra cover. It’s really quite a lot like the stroke that accounted for Roy, first ball after a Cummins change of ends. Fortunately for the England skipper, this time there’s nobody there to catch it. Nine runs off the over, the highlight being a Bairstow boundary, pummelled past mid off. England require 64 runs from the final 11 overs, at 5.82 each.
38th over: England 226-4 (Morgan 87, Bairstow 12)
Pattinson’s first delivery is smacked through the covers for four, and when his next goes for three England have the requisite seven runs and have four balls left to just have a little fun. They get a single, then a dot, then another single, and it seems like an unusually sedate form of fun, but then Bairstow sends the last past extra cover for four! England require 74 runs from 12 overs at 6.17 each.
“Is not today proof positive that the speed gun is a very false friend?” writes Armand. “The ball that did for Roy definitely stuck itself in a bubblegum patch and didn’t come on, clearly visible to the naked eye. Speed gun called it in the late eighties. No chance. And if Stoinis bowls at 87mph then I’m Waqar Younis’ much much faster younger brother (something which my mother categorically denies).” Yes, the speed gun may have whispered a few porkies this afternoon.
37th over: England 213-4 (Morgan 79, Bairstow 7)
Hastings bowls and that’s a lovely shot from Morgan! A perfect, delicate late nibble to send the ball very fine for four. Then, a dot later, he attacks and sends the ball to very nearly the same spot – a lot less deliberately this time – off the edge. 10 off the over, and England need 87 from 13 overs, at 6.69 each.
36th over: England 203-4 (Morgan 70, Bairstow 6)
Morgan is starting to sing here, and he thumps down the ground again – not nearly as violently as in the last innings, mind – for four. Seven runs, in all, from Marsh’s eighth over, which – it so happens – is precisely what England need from every remaining over if they are to win – they need 97 from 14 overs, at precisely 6.93 per each one.
35th over: England 196-4 (Morgan 64, Bairstow 5)
Hastings is back, and … blammo! … Morgan thunders one down the ground, onto the roof of the stand, very nearly over it and down the other side! It gets stuck in a gutter somewhere, and a new ball is called for. Eleven, in all, from the over, in the shape of three singles, a two and that six.
34th over: England 185-4 (Morgan 57, Bairstow 1)
A lovely wicket-taking delivery, a bit slower than normal and perfectly pitched. An important wicket, and the teams remain very evenly matched (Australia were 179-4 after 34 overs). Morgan ensures England’s slender superiority with four off the last.
WICKET! Stokes b Marsh 41 (England 180-4)
Stokes is profoundly yorked by Marsh, the ball dipping under his bat and into off stump!
Updated
33rd over: England 180-3 (Morgan 53, Stokes 41)
Maxwell keeps constructing single city. Four singles off his seventh over. Indeed in only one of those seven has anyone scored any number of runs but one (and in that one they really went wild, with a two, a four and a six).
32nd over: England 176-3 (Morgan 51, Stokes 39)
Mitch Marsh returns, and concedes three runs from his first couple of deliveries and then four from the last, whipped away by Stokes. The three in the middle, though, they were impeccable.
Updated
31st over: England 169-3 (Morgan 48, Stokes 35)
Maxwell has now bowled three full overs since either batsman last scored any number of runs off any of his deliveries that wasn’t one. Three more ones here.
30th over: England 166-3 (Morgan 46, Stokes 34)
Stoinis looks incredibly nonchalant, for a man making his ODI debut. Chewing gum, strolling to the start of his run-up, doin’ a bit of bowling. Like you do. Stokes clubs one through cover for four, which might add at least the hint of a crease to his brow.
29th over: England 161-3 (Morgan 45, Stokes 30)
Another Maxwell over, another small cluster of singles. Four of them. Slow and steady, no reason to panic. Yet.
28th over: England 157-3 (Morgan 43, Stokes 28)
After a Stokes single, Stoinis bowls one short and Morgan bludgeons it from shoulder height. I think he wanted to hit through midwicket, but the ball swerves in midair and ends up going straight down the ground for four.
27th over: England 150-3 (Morgan 38, Stokes 26)
Pattinson’s last over having cost 14 runs, he’s hooked and Maxwell’s back again. Four singles later, England are precisely halfway to their target.
26th over: England 146-3 (Morgan 36, Stokes 24)
Stoinis certainly isn’t very expensive (or hasn’t been yet, anyhow). Three singles from his second over, and five from his first two combined.
25th over: England 143-3 (Morgan 34, Stokes 23)
Pattinson returns, and Stokes gets another edge – and this one does carry! There are no slips, though, so that’s four. Then the same batsman pulls fine, getting his angles just right to frustrate the covering fielder, and that’s four more! And then he attacks, takes a couple of little steps forward, and hits down the ground for four even more! At this point, statistic fans, Australia were also 143-3.
24th over: England 129-3 (Morgan 33, Stokes 11)
A first look, then, at Marcus Stoinis, and it’s fairly ho-hum medium-to-medium-plus-paced stuff. England get a couple of singles, but then the last, short, wide and edged by Stokes, would have brought a wickeet had the ball just carried six inches further.
Not out!
Australia seemed keeen, or at least everyone except for Wade, tellingly. And replays very clearly show the ball bouncing just before the gloves.
REVIEW! Is Stokes out here?
Marcus Stoinis thinks he’s got a wicket to end his first over. There was a sound, but was there a nick? And if there was a nick, was there a bounce on the way to the keeper’s gloves?
Updated
23rd over: England 127-3 (Morgan 32, Stokes 10)
Six runs! Off one ball! Morgan goes down on one knee in order to fetch Maxwell’s delivery and heave it over midwicket. England’s first maximum! And then he gets four more through the covers!
22nd over: England 115-3 (Morgan 21, Stokes 10)
Marsh is trying to tempt Morgan into chasing wide balls again. To such an extent that his first delivery is called a wide, and the second should have been. He then reins things in a bit, and three singles follow.
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21th over: England 110-3 (Morgan 18, Stokes 9)
Stokes hits a fine shot into his own ankle, and isn’t far off getting out to it as the ball runs behind him. One run from Maxwell’s second over.
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20th over: England 109-3 (Morgan 17, Stokes 9)
Marsh bowls, and Morgan smacks one pretty hard, but straight to mid off, and then cuts nicely, but again to a fielder. It’s just not really happening for England at the moment on the run-accumulation front. At the end of the 14th over they were 20 runs ahead of where Australia had been at that stage, and a wicket to the good. Now they lead by nine, having lost the same number of wickets.
19th over: England 107-3 (Morgan 16, Stokes 8)
Some spin, then, from Maxwell, and some singles for England. Three of them. And a wide.
18th over: England 103-3 (Morgan 15, Stokes 6)
Ooof! Morgan chops the ball into the ground, just wide of the stumps. And then Marsh bowls really wide, Morgan stretches to fetch it and he pokes the ball between cover and backward point, and above both of them, for four, tickling England’s score into treble figures. “I’m getting big waves of tearful nostalgia here,” writes Robert Wilson. “In an era obsessed by height, weight and BMI, Taylor is showing the distinct advantage of being a titch. As soon as it’s wide, he’s in the ascendancy. We’ve all seen this in cricket we’ve actually played, the inexplicable cutting and pulling brilliance of some unlikely Munchkin but Taylor is old-school. It reminds me of hazy childhood memories of Gavaskar and Vishwanath cutting sataniclly fast West Indian quicks from a foot and a half above their heads and then going down to tap the pitch like it was just nothing. Oh bumcakes, he’s out.”
17th over: England 96-3 (Morgan 11, Stokes 3)
England showing a huge variety of different ways to slightly mistime strokes currently. As a result, the runs are coming in drips rather than waves (and one of the five off this Cummins over was a wide). One boundary in the last seven overs now.
16th over: England 91-3 (Morgan 8, Stokes 2)
That was quite the catch there from Matthew Wade. One for the highlights reel. Stokes comes in, and immediately hits through midwicket for a couple.
WICKET! Wade takes a stunner to remove Taylor for 41! http://t.co/5O1EPDeOIo #ENGvAUS pic.twitter.com/3Lz0h9lq1V
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) September 11, 2015
WICKET! Taylor c Wade b Marsh 41 (England 89-3)
Taylor tries to work a ball aimed at leg stump round the corner for runs, but Wade dives full length to his left and gets there!
Updated
15th over: England 88-2 (Taylor 41, Morgan 7)
Cummins gets one to come back into Taylor off the seam; the batsman’s efforts to improvise a scoring stroke are laudable, but he gets nowhere near it and it did make him look a little silly. The next is much wider, but also missed. Indeed, a Morgan single is all that England have to show for themselves at the end of the over. England are precisely 20 ahead of where Australia were at this stage of their innings, and have lost a wicket fewer.
14th over: England 87-2 (Taylor 41, Morgan 6)
Now Mitch Marsh has a bowl, and England – after 23 four-free deliveries – get themselves a boundary, Taylor driving an eminently drivable ball down the ground.
13th over: England 80-2 (Taylor 35, Morgan 5)
Just one run from Cummins’ fourth over, in which he gets his line and length pretty consistently right. There hasn’t been a maiden yet today, but that wasn’t far off (obviously)
12th over: England 79-2 (Taylor 35, Morgan 4)
An altogether better time to be bowling, as England build a new partnership. Hastins bowls, four runs scored, two ones and a two.
11th over: England 75-2 (Taylor 34, Morgan 1)
So Cummins gets immediate reward for a change of ends. His previous over went for 14, this one brings a wicket with the first ball, and thereafter leaks but a brace of singles.
WICKET! Roy c Finch b Cummins 36 (Engand 73-2)
After the ecstasy, the agony for Roy, as he mistimes his stroke and sends the ball looping straight to extra cover!
Updated
10th over: England 73-1 (Roy 36, Taylor 33)
Hastings’ first ball goes back down the ground for four, and so does the last! In between the Australians briefly think they might have Taylor, but it turns out that the ball only hit his trousers, and that the umpire knows it.
Meanwhile, it seems the Prime Minister’s daughter has been making cakes* for the TMS commentary team. Here is photographic evidence. Surely we deserve some biscuits from Harriet Harman’s cousin, or something?
* Well they call them cakes. It looks to me more like chocolate splodge in ice cream cones, but I guess that’s just semantics.
9th over: England 64-1 (Roy 31, Taylor 29)
Australian head in hands as Roy inside-edges Pattinson’s first delivery into his pads and it deflects to safety. And they’re back there again moments later, as Roy thumps the next over the batsman’s head – it lands, in the end, a couple of feet short of the rope. A couple of singles later Roy smashes through the covers for four more!
8th over: England 53-1 (Roy 21, Taylor 28)
Hasting’s opening delivery is driven down the ground by Roy to take England, and indeed the partnership, past 50 – and it only took them 37 balls. The next five, though, only bring a single. Australia had 29 at this point, and reached 50 in over 11.
7th over: England 48-1 (Roy 16, Taylor 28)
A more sedate over from Pattinson, bringing four runs, all singles. “The best place to watch cricket in Bilbao,” writes Eil Wyn Lim, “is in a cafe next to the Plazuela de Santiago, where you can also get great jamon and cheese. Please let Henry Lane know.” On the plus side, cricket, ham and cheese! On the down side, there may be more than one cafe near the Plazuela de Santiago.
6th over: England 44-1 (Roy 14, Taylor 26)
John Hastings, who with Matthew Wade wrought such havoc in the final overs of Australia’s innings, is passed the ball – and England score 10 more! Only with a bit of luck, though, as Roy inside-edges the final delivery wide of the stumps and away to the rope. He’d also scored four off the previous delivery, more deliberately that time, sending the ball screaming through the covers.
5th over: England 34-1 (Roy 5, Taylor 25)
Taylor’s a fine-looking batsman. Busy, short, like a freshly-waxed ewok. He starts Pattinson’s third over with another four, but then gets nothing from the free hit following a no-ball, for which much credit must go to the bowler for sending it in full and straight. He can’t repeat it, though, and when one goes shortish and widish, Taylor fair pummels it past point for four, and then he cuts the last straight to point, who inexplicably misses the ball completely, and that’s four more. That’s 27 runs from the last two overs.
4th over: England 21-1 (Roy 5, Taylor 13)
Runs! And quite a lot of them! Taylor crunches the first delivery wide of mid-off for four, a very handsome stroke, and then the next through cover. He didn’t even start running for either, nor did he need to. A wide and a single later, Roy does a very passable impersonation of the second stroke, and gets an identical reward. There’s still time, 14 runs already scored off the over, for a couple of dot balls.
3rd over: England 7-1 (Roy 1, Taylor 4)
Roy gets off the mark with a single from the first, and there’s also a leg bye, but that’s another hostile over from Pattinson. “Forget Bilbao,” writes Robert Wilson – and, to be fair, it seems everyone has. “Would anyone like to pretend to be me and write an article about Jeremy Corbyn and the return of the True Left to British politics for a French newspaper? I have a hangover and there are limits to what the soul can endure (aka, I would quite like to catch a bit of Roy-biffing). In French if possible, jokes appreciated, you can absolutely make up the politics. I’ll send tickets to the cheapest (free) gig I can find or a copy of a book I don’t want to read to the first lucky applicant. In a hat, on a Friday – if that’s what it takes.”
WICKET! Hales lbw b Cummins 0 (England 1-1)
That’s a killer delivery, full and fast, and it raps Hales on the ankle, the Australians go up – and so does the umpire’s finger! Looks like it was on its way down leg, but there’s no review!
Updated
1st over: England 1-0 (Roy 0, Hales 0)
So Pattinson gets the ball rolling, or rather flying, at just a smidgeon above 90mph. Jason Roy is in no kind of hurry, not until the fifth legal delivery (one ball having gone down leg side), that is, which nearly cut him in half on its way through to the keeper, though the batsman did somehow get out of its way.
Right. Everyone’s out. Action imminent. James Pattinson has the ball in hand.
Updated
The players are slowly emerging from the dressing rooms. And, before play restarts, a plea: “Hullo there!” writes Henry Lane. Well hello. “Can any OBO readers tell me if there’s anywhere in Bilbao showing the match? As incentive, England have never lost whilst I’ve been watching them live from abroad. In a hat. On a Friday.” Anyone?
Hello world!
Well, those 54 runs from the last four overs certainly put a different complexion on things. Talking of things that start a little slowly but end in a blur of frenetic action, here’s some twixt-innings listening for you.
Yer boy Simon Burnton will take you through England’s reply, so send your thoughts, questions and answers to simon.burnton@theguardian.com or tweet @Simon_Burnton. Cheers!
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Incidentally, David Cameron was in the crowd earlier, sitting with Dickie Bird. Wonder how well he’ll be received over the innings break canapes...
England will require 300 to win
So, a nice round figure for England to get in order to stay in the series, and that was a rather curious innings from Australia. David Willey made a mess of their top order, before that brilliant partnership between Maxwell and Bailey set them up. Another clatter ensued, before Wade and Hastings hammered the thing all over the place to set a very competitive target indeed.
A mix of excellent bowling up front (and a fine spell by Moeen), mixed with some ropey lengths towards the end there. Very gettable though for England - six an over shouldn’t in theory be a massive problem for a team that has scored 400 this summer.
50th over: Australia 299-7 (Wade 50, Hastings 34)
Wood with the last over. Hastings smacks a one-bouncer down to long-on, before Wade goes for another scoop that catches a top-edge and sails over the boundary for six, landing on the covers. Another two with a belt to long-on, then he smashes a length ball into the middle of the Western Terrace, before bringing up his 50 with a single, that he’s desperately disappointed with, for some reason. Hastings flays a single, to end a brilliant partnership that has saved Australia’s bacon in this one.
49th over: Australia 282-7 (Wade 35, Hastings 32)
Lovely, if risky shot from Wade, going down to lap a sweep from Willey fine and for four. Would’ve been dead lbw if he’d missed, mind. A few more singles, before Wade hoys a sloggy sweep that bounces once before crossing the square ropes. Another 12 from the over and Australia are going to be close to the 300 that looked absolutely nailed on earlier.
48th over: Australia 270-7 (Wade 25, Hastings 30)
Wade takes two, then goes for a scoop that actually goes a bit wrong (in that he had no idea where it was going), but it still loops over the keeper’s head and bounces away for four. He then waits for a slower ball and absolutely creams a hugh six over long-on - quite the shot for a wee fellow. Good stuff from these two.
47th over: Australia 257-7 (Wade 12, Hastings 30)
Willey is back, and Hasting carts him for a single, before Wade digs out a yorker and they dash through for one. Then Hastings plants his foot and mullers a terrific six that nearly brains a steward in the new pavilion. Wade clips a couple off his toes, and there’s a couple more singles.
46th over: Australia 245-7 (Wade 8, Hastings 22)
Yee-ha. Hastings cowboys up and wallops a six over long-off, which inspires a field change and the man out there saves a four next ball. Wood then gets away massively with a full-toss around Wade’s belly button - quite how that wasn’t a no ball is something of a mystery.
45th over: Australia 234-7 (Wade 5, Hastings 14)
Hastings jumps all over a long-hop by Plunkett and batters it in front of mid-wicket and to the boundary. A couple of singles, before Plunkett gives him a thigh-high full one that he whacks to the fence again, then another goes straight to a fielder so it’s just one.
44th over: Australia 222-7 (Wade 3, Hastings 4)
Mo’s done, so Wood starts. Wade drives well but long-off is there to keep it to a single. Hastings departs briefly from his defensive approach to cut it behind point for four, bringing the score to chew-chwenty-chew, but there’s nothing from the rest of the over as Wade desperately tries to wrestle the strike from the big lad.
43rd over: Australia 217-7 (Wade 2, Hastings 0)
Wade drives and a misfield at mid-off gives him a single, then Plunkett drifts down leg and that’s a wide. Hastings offers some stout defence, which is lovely, but perhaps not what Australia are looking for as they need, well, y’know, runs.
42nd over: Australia 215-7 (Wade 1, Hastings 0)
Big John Hastings, who always looks like he should be playing fourth cowboy in a John Wayne film, pats away the last couple of the over.
WICKET! Stoinis c Rashid b Moeen 4 (5) - Australia 215-7
England on the attack now, with a slip in the 42nd over. Stoinis sweeps behind deep backward square, gets three for it, then Wade gets a single before Stoinis goes for a reverse and guides the most perfect catching practice for Rashid at point.
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41st over: Australia 211-6 (Wade 0, Stoinis 1)
Day-boo-tant Stoinis, who will almost certainly have that middle I in his name missed at some point, flicks the last ball of an excellent over for England for a single.
WICKET! Bailey c & b Plunkett 75 (110) - Australia 210-6
Two in three for Plunkett! Bailey’s innings ends in rather limp fashion as he chips the ball straight back down the pitch and back to the bowler, who does his own work.
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WICKET! Marsh c Willey b Plunkett 17 (24) - Australia 210-5
Marsh tries to go big, big, big, but the attempted spank over mid-on gets a leading edge and Willey barely has to move before pouching at long-off.
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40th over: Australia 210-4 (Bailey 75, Marsh 17)
Bailey slightly fortunate as he comes down the pitch, Mo seems him coming and darts one down leg, which he’s lucky not to get a leading edge to. A couple of singles, then Bailey heads down again, kicks the thing with the bat hidden behind the pad into the covers, but umpire Michael Gough cancels the single on the ‘not playing the ball you cheeky little scamp’ rule. Or ‘dead ball’, as others call it.
39th over: Australia 208-4 (Bailey 75, Marsh 16)
Plunkett replaces Rashid, which is vaguely curious since he’s been the weakest of the four seamers and the others have plenty of overs left. And there’s the first boundary in a little while, Bailey coming down the track a little and clipping the ball off his toes, in front of mid-wicket and to the ropes.
38th over: Australia 200-4 (Bailey 69, Marsh 14)
Australia are simply refusing to score multiple runs. Four ones from that over, but they could be setting themselves up for a hoy-fest from the last ten overs. 300 most certainly on for them.
37th over: Australia 196-4 (Bailey 67, Marsh 12)
Singles, singles, singles. More singles than the Kraft packing plant. Well, six of them from that over. That’s Rashid done, and despite some tap from Maxwell he’s bowled OK - 10-0-63-0.
36th over: Australia 190-4 (Bailey 64, Marsh 9)
Some nice dip from Moeen nearly utterly flummoxes Bailey as he comes down the pitch, eyes lighting at what looked like a loopy one, and he was pretty lucky his pads stopped that or else it was stumping o’clock. Another good over from Mo, who hasn’t conceded more than a single since the 26th over.
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35th over: Australia 187-4 (Bailey 63, Marsh 7)
A couple of singles, then Bailey opts for the ‘sod this for a game of soldiers’ approach, ambles down the track and launches an arrow-straight six. More like it from the Aussies.
34th over: Australia 179-4 (Bailey 56, Marsh 6)
Bailey goes for a reverse-sweep, misses, Bairstow hears a noise and gleefully claims a catch, but the sound was bat hitting ground rather than ball. Just one from the over, and the Australians are in danger of getting a little bit bogged down. No boundaries in eight overs now.
33rd over: Australia 178-4 (Bailey 55, Marsh 6)
Bailey goes way over to off and tries a big sweep to a ball that pitched on about a fifth/sixth stump line, and was turning away. He was probably lucky he didn’t get any of that actually, given the potential for a top-edge etc. Bailey tries desperately to get him away to the boundary, but only finds fielders with some well-struck shots. Two runs from an over tidier than an OCD-sufferer’s desk.
32nd over: Australia 176-4 (Bailey 54, Marsh 5)
More Mo (mo’ Mo, you might say), and again it’s pretty solid stuff, just the three runs coming from the over.
31st over: Australia 173-4 (Bailey 53, Marsh 3)
Rashid’s back, and it’s pretty tidy stuff from the wee man, aside from the last ball of the over that was shortish and wide (it may actually have been a wide if Marsh had left it), and only hit out to the cover sweeper for a single. Four of them from the over.
And here’s Robert Wilson on the boy Dilly: “If improvement or progress is what you always look for in players coming into a side, then Rashid has it in snow-shovels. He seems to go up a notch every two or three overs of every game I’ve seen. Getting a bit of tap from a notorious dasher in an ODI means little. His stock leggie is beautiful. He’s a little variation-happy but that will ease off. Warne, in speaking of his famed variations recently, said “Aw look, mate. I basically had two balls - the legspinner and the straight one.”. Once Rashid gets that, and with such a strong stock ball, I think he could be exceptional. In the last game he bowled a straight one I wanted to marry.”
30th over: Australia 169-4 (Bailey 51, Marsh 1)
Two more singles, one a leg-bye, from the over.
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WICKET! Maxwell b Moeen 85 (64) - Australia 167-4
Slightly smarter bowling from Mo, a bit slower and with more flight. And then Maxwell gets out in the most Maxwell possible way, going for a reverse-sweep to a quicker one on leg-stump that he misses, and it takes out said leg-stump. Peak Maxwell. 100% Maxwell. Pure Maxwell. He’s an entertainer. Oh Glenn.
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29th over: Australia 165-3 (Bailey 50, Maxwell 84)
Bowling change, and Plunkett is back, like the Backstreet Boys. Bailey celebrates by getting frosted tips and wearing leather pan...sorry, but cutting a single through the covers to bring up his 50. That reverse-sweep from the previous over - some suggestion that Bairstow appealed for hitting it twice. Oh the larks if that had been unpheld and Morgan hadn’t withdrawn the appeal. The larks!
28th over: Australia 163-3 (Bailey 49, Maxwell 83)
Maxwell goes for a reverse-sweep that hits his pad, possibly his glove, then perhaps the back of the bat on the follow-through and he takes a single. He really is scoring runs in unorthodox ways. Four more singles from a quiet over.
27th over: Australia 158-3 (Bailey 46, Maxwell 81)
Rashid beats Maxwell with a nice leggie, but then he flicks one fine off his pads that trickles away like a pleasant country stream for three. A single each for the batsmen, then Bailey is down the track to drive one more straight. All going very well for Australia at present, but...
Can't wait to see how Maxwell gets out in the 90s this time. Such an innovator
— Peter Miller (@TheCricketGeek) September 11, 2015
26th over: Australia 152-3 (Bailey 44, Maxwell 77)
Maxwell takes a hhhhhhhhhhhheave at a full ball from Moeen, like a man attempting to extricate a golf ball from some fearful rough, but inside edges for a single. A few more ones, before the reverse-sweep comes out, this time from Bailey, picking the gap between the two points and to the third man fence.
25th over: Australia 143-3 (Bailey 37, Maxwell 75)
Rashid bowls a ball that most people would try to drive through the covers, but Maxwell takes a diagonal path down the track and heading for mid-off, turns it into a full-toss and slaps it over mid-on and to the boundary. Lovely batting.
24th over: Australia 136-3 (Bailey 36, Maxwell 69)
Moeen Ali is into the attack, and Maxwell greets him in cartoon Maxwell fashion by reverse-sweeping him through the covers for four. Then a quieter few balls, which really isn’t on, and three further runs from the over. Come on lads, step it up a bit...
23rd over: Australia 129-3 (Bailey 34, Maxwell 64)
Just as you get some shorties from Stokes, you get full-tosses from Rashid, and Maxwell jumps all over one to muller the ball over cow corner for the first six of the innings, and bringing up his 50. Rashid then over-compensates next up, giving Maxwell a long-hop that he sticks in more or less the same place for another sixer, before slapping a fullish delivery over straight mid-off for a one-bounce four. Brilliant batting, that, 17 from the over.
22nd over: Australia 112-3 (Bailey 34, Maxwell 47)
Stokes has a habit of dropping short in his first balls of an over, which he does here and Maxwell swats it in front of mid-wicket and to the boundary. A single, then Bailey rocks back to cut the final ball just behind point for another four. These two playing very well now.
21st over: Australia 103-3 (Bailey 30, Maxwell 42)
Bailey drills one over Rashid’s head that the Yorkshireman might have just got his fingertips to, but you couldn’t describe that as a drop. So we won’t. Rashid nearly gets the last ball through, a quicker, flatter, skiddier number. Sort of a hugely inferior version of this one, from Shane Warne to Alec Stewart. The genius of Warne was that the previous ball pitched in exactly the same spot, but was a leggie that Stewart slapped to the fence. Warne then stitched him up with the flipper.
20th over: Australia 100-3 (Bailey 28, Maxwell 41)
Ton up for Tony Abbott’s brave boys with a couple o’ singles, but it’s otherwise a drum-tight over from Stokes, beating Bailey with a wee away-shaper from the last ball.
19th over: Australia 98-3 (Bailey 27, Maxwell 40)
Lovely late cut by Bailey to guide three runs down to where third man usually patrols, then Maxwell takes the maverick approach of seeing a widish full one outside off, and trying to drag the sloggiest of sweeps into the Western Terrace. It dribbles back down the pitch to the bowler. A pair of twos from the rest of the over, the first through the covers and the next a sweep from a full-toss to deep backward square.
18th over: Australia 91-3 (Bailey 24, Maxwell 36)
Just a change of ends for Stokes, who starts from the Football Stand End with a short one down the leg side, and the umpire does his Christ the Redeemer impression. A single, then Maxwell top-edges a pull down to fine leg, but Rashid drops a low, but very takeable catch in the deep. Then, of course, Bailey drives the next ball past mid-off for four.
17th over: Australia 83-3 (Bailey 18, Maxwell 35)
Wicket machine Adil Rashid is into the attack, and disappointingly doesn’t take a wicket with his first ball. A couple are a bit full, Australia take a couple of singles then he bowls one of those perfect leg spinners, drifting in, dipping at the end, pitching about middle-off and ripping away, but alas for him it ripped a hair too far to take Bailey’s edge.
16th over: Australia 80-3 (Bailey 16, Maxwell 34)
England review an lbw shout turned down by the umpire, but it wasn’t the best ask, as it was going over and possibly leg side of the stumps, too. Plunkett then drops rather short and wide which is treated as it should be by Bailey, then after a single Maxwell plays another delightful straight drive, straight to the fence.
15th over: Australia 71-3 (Bailey 11, Maxwell 30)
Two full ones from Stokes, three runs from the Aussie batsmen as they drive into the offside. Stokes beats the edge with one that didn’t appear to do much beyond hold its line, then another driven single to end the over.
14th over: Australia 67-3 (Bailey 8, Maxwell 29)
Maxwell gets a couple of relatively fortunate runs from a thick outside edge, but then takes four from an unspeakably beautiful - we’re talking Eva Mendes, David Beckham levels - straight drive, that Plunkett is annoyed with, and perhaps understandably, but just admire that one, Liam. One more single from the over.
Yes indeed, Rick...
@NickMiller79 A plum could be plumb, no?
— Rick Back (@rickback180) September 11, 2015
13th over: Australia 60-3 (Bailey 8, Maxwell 22)
Ben Stokes gets a bowl, as Willey has a rest. A couple of singles, then Stokes grabs a sharp one on the return (bump ball), and everyone has a nice little laugh as Stokes threatens to throw down the stumps. Bailey chuckles, keeping both hands firmly at his sides.
12th over: Australia 58-3 (Bailey 7, Maxwell 21)
Wood takes a blow and Plunkett is bowling, cheerfully greeted by a Maxwell drive through the covers for four. He then serves him an absolute jaffa though, squaring him up with just enough away movement, one of those a batsman basically closes his eyes and hopes not to nick. Two more singles from the over.
Robert Wilson’s been at the thesaurus, on the old boy Trevor Bailey: “I hate to carp but to dismiss the once-in-a-generation Eeyore that was Trevor Bailey as a mere miserabilist is disrespectful to the titanic brilliance of his anhedonia. There were decades of dudgeon, an incapacity for pleasure that was a Grail quest. He wasn’t merely unpleasable, he wanted to persuade every young boy watching that life was a filthy bitter thing, that talent was mere vulgarity and that his own unbearable cross was to be right ebout everything. All delivered in a voice that could make you long for the dentist’s drill. He had total consistency and a touch of real genius. I dream of listening to what he would have made of Flintoff.
“I’m getting the impression that Willey is really quite good at cricket. Trevor would have delighted in proving me wrong.”
11th over: Australia 52-3 (Bailey 6, Maxwell 16)
Maxwell, in a shocking development, seems to think the best way of attacking this challenge is, well, to attack. He flays a pair of drives through the covers, the first in the air a bit and behind extra, the second along the ground and in front, but the same result from both shots - four runs. A single, then Willey comes around the wicket to Bailey, who drives wide of mid-off, Taylor runs around the boundary and gets a hand to the ball on the dive, but can’t prevent another four runs.
Meanwhile, Ant Pease has my back: “Sensibleb precautionsb meanb thatb youb willb spellb plumbb correctlyb. Ollocks.”
10th over: Australia 39-3 (Bailey 2, Maxwell 7)
A couple of singles, then Wood oversteps so Maxwell has a go at a free hit...which he throws absolutely everything at, not timing massively well, but it beats mid-off and goes for four anyway. Another single, then, a drop! And by the standards of England’s catching this series, a reasonable simple one, as Bailey nicks to Jason Roy at second slip, who grasses the thing at about knee-height.
9th over: Australia 31-3 (Bailey 1, Maxwell 1)
A bit of swing and these Australians seem to fall apart this summer. Maxwell finally connects with the last ball of the over but a diving Taylor uses ever inch of his height to save what would’ve been a certain boundary in the covers, and they just get one.
Always nice to be told off in a patronising (if correct) manner. Cheers John Starbuck: “It’s plumb as in plumb line, not plum as in plum crumble (or straining). Most OBO writers get this wrong at some stage so we are used to it, but there’s no excuse for doing it repeatedly.”
Updated
WICKET! Finch c Bairstow b Willey 15 (27) Australia 30-3
Brilliant stuff this from the impending Yorkshireman, getting Finch to nick behind and he’s on his way. Willey falls over in his delivery stride and appeals while flat on his face. Lovely stuff.
Yorkshire c Yorkshire b Yorkshire #Yorkshire
— Dave Tickner (@tickerscricket) September 11, 2015
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8th over: Australia 29-2 (Bailey 0, Finch 15)
England all over Australia like a flannel here. Finch throws everything at a big drive, which if he’d made contact would’ve sent the ball halfway to Bradford, but misses by a distance. Wood then beats the edge with a legitimate jaffa, but Finch finds his range a little next up, pushing a slightly more careful drive through the covers and to the fence.
Anyone do a "batsman Burns the bowler's Willey" gag earlier? #EngvAus
— Tom Davies (@tomdaviesE17) September 11, 2015
7th over: Australia 25-2 (Bailey 0, Finch 11)
Bailey - who I always instinctively think is former England all-rounder and TMS miserablist Trevor, in much the same way that I always think Sky bant-fest panel show ‘A League Of Their Own’ is the baseball film starring Madonna, Rosie O’Donnell and Geena Davis - is in, and is troubled straight away. He shoulders arms to the last ball of the innings and it thunks his pads. A review is mulled for a bit, but in the end they (wisely) decide it wasn’t swinging back enough.
WICKET! Smith lbw b Willey 5 (12) - Australia 25-2
Willey starts with a wide, misses Smith’s inside-edge as the Aussie captain drives expansively, but the next one is an Akramian inswinging yorker that gets Smith’s back leg and pins him as plum as plum can be.
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6th over: Australia 24-1 (Smith 5, Finch 11)
Decent stuff from Wood, who gets Smith to edge one that goes wide of the slips, and he gets a single. The slips then go big on an lbw appeal, denied by the relatively minor detail of Finch hitting the thing. Finch takes a quick single, then Smith goes for a big ol’ boomer of a drive, only getting an inside-edge to square-leg for one. Good stuff this from England.
5th over: Australia 21-1 (Smith 3, Finch 10)
Singles! Good old fashioned, ticking over, keep things moving, find the gaps ODI cricket. Before all those exciting sixes and stuff came in and ruined things.
Update from Bob Log: “I hold a degree in law but I’ll leave the blogging to Bob Loblaw.”
4th over: Australia 17-1 (Smith 1, Finch 9)
Glorious, Pontingian straight drive by Smith, but he’s denied four runs and a deserved spell of admiration of the shot by Moeen Ali’s diving save at mid-on. Three singles come from the over.
Quite a distance, I’d imagine. Stokes won’t be going anywhere for a while.
How far away is David Willey from nicking Stokes' Test spot, do we think? @NickMiller79
— Mike Jakeman (@mikejakeman) September 11, 2015
You should buy Mike’s book, by the way - ‘Saving The Test’, it’s called. Topical and stuff.
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3rd over: Australia 14-1 (Smith 0, Finch 7)
Some proper shape from Willey, tucking Burns up so much that he holds the pose in a sort of ‘What? Didn’t bother me that one, definitely not’ sort of way, like refusing to rub one’s thigh after being struck. He takes a single, then Finch drives through the covers, the ball skips towards the boundary but wee little tiny small James Taylor dives desperately and saves a run with a brilliant dive at the ropes. Then the wicket, and now skipper Steve Smith is in.
WICKET! Burns b Willey 2 (7) - Australia 14-1
Well that wasn’t an awfully good shot. Willey bowls one just back of a length to Burns, who tries a sort of indeterminate prod/cut thing through the covers, but only succeeds in inside-edging it into his stumps.
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2nd over: Australia 10-0 (Burns 2, Finch 4)
Mark Wood has the ball from t’other end, and Burns turns what should be a couple in front of point, but he slips over at the non-striker’s and just takes the one. That’s it from the over - there’s an appeal for lbw that was never going to be given (too high, to leggy) and a couple of nice drives from Finch that go straight to fielders.
I desperately hope so, Gareth...
@NickMiller79 please confirm that Bob Logs has a law blog?
— Gareth Wilson (@garethclwilson) September 11, 2015
1st over: Australia 9-0 (Burns 1, Finch 4)
Burns gets us going with a nudged single to mid-wicket, then Willey gets one to shape down leg and appeals with adorable optimism for lbw, but that was probably to just distract the umpire. From what, I’m not sure, because it whistles to the boundary for leg-byes. The next ball is more or less exactly the same, but Finch gets a flick on it for the same result. The final two balls have the Australian opener in a bit of bother, and there’s enough swing there to get the bowlers rubbing their thighs, Vic Reeves style.
Actually, I haven’t given you much time to read that. Bookmark it for later. The players are out, and David Willey is about to open the bowling for England.
Bit of pre-game reading: this celebration of the Waca by our boy Russell Jackson is absolutely wonderful. The pictures are quite sensational too.
Scouting report from the splendidly-named Bob Logs: “Stoinis is more of an opening bat who bowls a bit - I see he’s listed at number 8 but then England played an opener who bowls a bit at number 8 throughout the test series...”
An email! “Today is the day for Alex Hales to step up and silence the doubters!” roars Dean Kinsella. “Come out swinging Alex!”
He has been rather disappointing in this series. Scores of 3, 22, 18 and 9 (including the T20) ain’t what you need when you’re potentially auditioning for a place on the winter tour(s). Perhaps this won’t actually matter too much given his scores in the County Championship, but it isn’t ideal. A good thwack today would be lovely.
Last time Australia won the toss and batted at Headingley they were 88 all out https://t.co/D8NfWig4lp
— Ali Martin (@Cricket_Ali) September 11, 2015
Team news
England
Roy, Hales, Taylor, Morgan (capt), Stokes, Bairstow (wk), Ali, Willey, Rashid, Plunkett, Wood
Australia
Burns, Finch, Smith (capt), Bailey, Maxwell, Marsh, Wade (wk), Stoinis, Hastings, Cummins, Pattinson
So a couple of changes for each team. Marcus Stoinis - a medium pace bowling all-rounder - makes his dayboo, coming in for Ashton Agar, while as we knew John Hastings replaces Mitchell Starc who has a rest. For England, again as we knew David Willey is in for the injured Chris Woakes, while Steven Finn is rested in favour of Mark Wood. That one seems slightly curious, given that he hasn’t had a massive (international) workload this summer, but maybe he has a little niggle or something.
Australia have won the toss and...
...they will have a bat.
Preamble
Morning. This series has a familiar ring to it. Much like the Test series that preceded it, these two teams haven’t exactly done things by halves. Australia have won a couple of games convincingly, and England have likewise prevailed in relatively straightforward fashion in one. No real close encounters, little nip and virtually no tuck.
I mean, is that good? One of the main reasons the Tests weren’t especially diverting was because there was so little tension in most games. Surely limited overs games theoretically have more potential for dramatic, late finishes than the longer form, but we’re not getting any because of the one-sided nature of things.
On the other hand we have been provided with some decent entertainment, whether that’s through the hoopla over Ben Stokes being run-out, or some splendid batting by James Taylor and Matthew Wade, or some exceptional catching from most of the England team at Old Trafford the other day.
One way to inject a little frisson into the series would be for England to win this one and set up a decider in Manchester (which is weird - why are they going back there?) on Sunday. So England have to win this one for the good of the series. For the good of cricket. It will crumble if they don’t. Or something like that. Should be fun, anyway.
Start: 10.30am BST
Nick will be here shortly. Meanwhile, read Ali Martin’s preview of the fourth ODI:
David Willey is set to be recalled by England for Friday’s fourth one-day international against Australia on his future home ground of Headingley, with fellow seamer Chris Woakes ruled out for the rest of the series because of a thigh strain.
The 25-year-old Northamptonshire left-armer Willey, who has signed a three-year deal to play for Yorkshire from next season, made his England one-day debut at the start of the summer but has not featured since victory in the one-off Twenty20 in Cardiff on 31 August.
