England restrict Australia to 217-9 in 5th ODI

ADELAIDE: Stuart Broad and Ben Stokes shared six wickets as England restricted Australia to 217-9 after they won the toss and batted Sunday in the fifth and final one-day international.

 

Broad bowled opener Aaron Finch (7) and wicketkeeper Matthew Wade (31) and dismissed all rounder Shane Watson for a duck to finish with 3-31 from 10 overs. Stokes removed opener Shaun March (36), George Bailey for the innings´ top score of 56 and Glenn Maxwell for 22, severely denting Australia´s batting effort and finishing with 3-43.

 

Tim Bresnan bowled returning captain Michael Clarke for 8 and Chris Jordan claimed the late wickets of James Faulkner for 27 and Nathan Coulter-Nile (15) with consecutive deliveries in the last over but was denied a hat-trick by Xavier Doherty.Bailey´s 56, which included a half century from 60 balls, gave some stability to a flimsy Australian innings.

He put on 58 for the fifth wicket with Maxwell in the innings´ most productive partnership, helping Australia recover from 64-4.

 

Bailey and Wade then put on 55 for the sixth wicket, lifting Australia to 167-6 in the 40th over. But disciplined late bowling helped England regain the upper hand and after Bailey was out, Australia lost four wicket for 48 runs.

 

The strained nature of Australia´s batting performance called into question Clarke´s decision to bat after winning the toss on what transpired to be a sluggish pitch at the Adelaide Oval. Stroke-making was difficult and the Australian tally included no sixes and only 14 fours, four of those hit by Bailey.

 

Broad and Jordan placed Australia under early pressure with aggressive and accurate opening spells. Finch was twice dropped — once by England captain Alastair Cook at slip — before he was bowled by Broad in the fifth over.

 

Broad then enticed a loose shot from Watson, who seems to be settling deeper into a form slump, for a duck, leaving Australia 22-2.

 

Bresnan bowled Clarke with a gentle inswinger which glanced off the bottom edge of the Australian captain´s bat, then Stokes removed Marsh, who provided the only resistance among the top order, and Australia was in trouble at 64-4. Marsh faced 52 balls for his 36 but was confounded by the pace of the pitch and chipped a simple catch to Cook at short-midwicket.

 

Bailey and Maxwell settled the innings and batted for 10 overs before Maxwell committed one of the errors of judgment which have recently plagued his game and edged a catch of wicketkeeper Jos Buttler.

 

When Bailey fell in the 41st over, after a batting powerplay which yielded only 35 runs, Australia may have had to readjust its target score to something in the mid-200s.

 

Wade batted well before he was bowled by Broad in the 43rd over and James Faulkner tried to give Australia late momentum, making 27 from 27 balls before he fell to Jordan. Nathan Coulter-Nile fell next ball, creating the exciting late prospect of a hat-trick but Doherty scrambled the hat-trick ball away for a single.

 

Australia hold a winning 3-1 lead in the five match series and hopes to finish the series on a high note on the Australia Day holiday.