BIRMINGHAM - Thanks to a superb batting performance by Michael Clarke and good showing with the ball by Mitchell Johnson and Clint McKay, Australia managed their first ODI win against England since February 2011 by defeating the hosts by 88 runs at Manchester. The visitors, after a forgettable Ashes series, have had a good run in the limited overs games (winning the 1st T20I against England, beating Scotland in the one-off ODI and emerging victors in the 2nd ODI) and they will be looking to extend their fine form. Meanwhile, England, who are without many of their front-line players, will be hoping to comeback with a strong showing in the third One-Dayer at Birmingham and square the series.
Despite the presence of Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott, England did not have sufficient answers with the bat after Australia posted a commanding total of 315/7 in the second ODI, following a rained-out affair at Leeds. While Pietersen, who opened the innings, came up with a well-compiled half-century, his efforts as well as those of Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler, was not enough to take England past the line as the hosts ended up being bowled out well short of the target. Michael Carberry failed in his second ODI outing while Trott, Joe Root and Ravi Bopara too fell cheaply as England kept losing regular wickets and could not catch up despite three batsmen posting fifties. Skipper Morgan will be hoping for an improved showing from the top-order batsmen in the upcoming matches and will be expecting them to show better application with the bat and prove that they are capable enough of posting and chasing big targets despite Alastair Cook and Ian Bell not being present.
The absence of big names such as James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann heavily weakened the England bowling attack as the likes of Steven Finn, Ben Stokes and James Tredwell went for quite a few runs. Boyd Rankin was the lone bowler who impressed in the second ODI, finishing with two wickets while conceding less than 5 an over. With the hosts deciding to go in with only 4 front-line bowlers, they had a problem with the fifth bowler, as Bopara, who bowled his entire quota of 10 overs, conceded 57 runs while managing to pick up a couple of wickets. Tredwell was the most expensive of the lot, giving away 60 runs from 8 overs. The England team management will be hoping that the bowlers show better discipline in the remaining matches and not make the selectors regret their decision of resting some of the big names.
Australia: The visitors came up with a good batting performance in the 2nd ODI and were able to post a sizeable total mainly because of captain Clarke, who scored a brilliant 105. Clarke was aided by his deputy George Bailey, who came up with a fine 82 while Aaron Finch and Shane Watson also contributed with useful knocks. Finch, who has been in good form in the last few games, could not convert his start into a substantial score though as he got out on 45 while it was the same case with Watson, who looked good for more before getting out on 38, after a contentious DRS decision went against him.
Clarke will be hoping for bigger scores from these two batters while he will also be expecting a good contribution from Shaun Marsh, who got out on nought at Manchester, following his hundred against Scotland.
Australia's bowling has been helped by Johnson's good form as the left-handed seamer came up with another fine showing with the ball at Old Trafford, picking up 2 wickets while giving away just 36 runs from his 10 overs. McKay was also in the mood to pick up wickets, finishing with a 3 wicket haul in that game. Faulkner and Watson also did well, picking up a wicket each apart from bowling economically while Adam Voges, with his left-arm orthodox, bowled reasonably well too. While Clarke will be hoping for his bowlers to continue in the same vein, he will be slightly concerned with Fawad Ahmed, who had an expensive outing in the last game. The skipper will be eager for the leg-spinner to put his talent to good use in the upcoming games and play a bigger role as Australia look to take a lead in the ODI series.
Team News: Before the start of the series, Morgan had expressed his willingness to persist with Carberry and the left-handed opener is likely to get another game despite failing in the match against Ireland and the 2nd ODI. If, however, England do decide to leave him out, then Luke Wright is the likely choice for the opener's slot and England would benefit from his inclusion as he will be handy with the ball as well. The other change that England might contemplate is giving Chris Jordan a debut game at the expense of Stokes. Meanwhile, Australia are likely to go in with an unchanged eleven.