Travis Head and David Warner both scored century to help Australia win the third and final one-day international match of the series at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Tuesday. The match was the last in the series, and Australia won it by 221 runs to win the series 3-0.
After suffering crushing defeats in Adelaide by six wickets and in Sydney by 72 runs, England’s extended tour came to an end with a humiliating loss at the same location where they triumphed earlier this month in the Twenty20 World Cup.
As a result of the rain, the game was shortened to 48 overs, but Australia still managed to score an impressive 355 runs thanks to Head’s 152 and Warner’s 106. The pair’s 269-run stand is the ninth-best opening partnership in 50-over cricket, and their total is the most ever scored at the MCG.
It left England needing 364 to win under a DLS-adjusted goal, an ominous figure they never looked like attaining against a disciplined attack led by pacemen Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood and spinner Adam Zampa’s bowling. England never looked like getting that score.
The Australian captain of the team, Cummins, commented that all three games had been “amazing.” “Everything has come together quite nicely.
“It’s good to wrap things up here, it was just about the best one-day international I’ve ever been a part of,” he said. Everything went off without a hitch.
Dawid Malan was promoted to open the batting for England with Jason Roy after Phil Salt was taken out of the game for a concussion assessment after striking his head while fielding. However, Malan was bowled for two runs by Josh Hazlewood.
The situation for the batters did not improve, as they were only able to reach 49-1 after the first 10 overs, which was already a significant deficit in comparison to the required run rate.
In rapid succession, Cummins dismissed Roy (33) and Sam Billings (7), while James Vince ground out 22 runs off 45 balls until Sean Abbott broke his resistance.
After Zampa took the wickets of England’s captain Jos Buttler (4) and Chris Woakes (5) in the same over, followed by Moeen Ali (18) in the following over, England’s score was 95-7 and their dreams were dashed. Zampa finished with a score of 4-31.
Although we gave it our all, the results were not what we had hoped for. Buttler acknowledged that Australia was superior to us in every facet of the game.
“But there is plenty for which to be proud. In reference to the World Cup victory, he stated, “You don’t need a long memory to remember the sights here last week.”
Buttler, who had been absent for the match in Sydney, was victorious in the toss and elected for Australia to bat, where they were treated to an exhibition by Head and Warner.
After Aaron Finch stepped down from his position as the team’s opener, Head took advantage of the opportunity to solidify his position at the head of the order by scoring his third and greatest one-day century off 130 balls with 16 fours and four sixes.
Head was able to survive a dropped catch on four and being given out leg before wicket on nine, both of which he successfully contested. Playing in circumstances that were gloomy and cold, the England bowlers were able to extract early swing.
However, he calmed down when he and Warner gained complete control of the situation, which resulted in their second partnership of 100 runs or more in three matches.
Rain delayed play for thirty minutes, but when it resumed, the teams picked up just where they had left off. Head continued to race toward his century, and Chris Woakes hit a four to help him reach the landmark. Warner soon followed, and he did so by smashing Olly Stone into the ropes to complete his 19th one-day international century.
Stone’s persistence paid off as he was able to take out both Warner and Head in the same over. He finished with four wickets for 85 runs after also getting Mitchell Marsh and Steve Smith out for 30 and 21 respectively.