Australia won the toss and elected to bat first on a good bouncy SCG pitch. It was more of a bowling pitch today, and Josh Hazlewood knew that defending a total would be a better option at the end of the match.
The English Side Was Led by Moeen Ali Today.
There were a lot of changes made for the second ODI by both teams. Jos Buttler did describe the rest players needed post the World Cup. With Jos Buttler, Chris Jordan, Luke Wook, and Olly Stone at rest, the captaincy was handed over to Moeen Ali. Ali has captained England in 11 T20 games before this but today was the first time he captained England in an ODI match. He will definitely not be happy with the result but his counterpart Hazlewood had a good day as Australian Captain. This is for the first time that two fast bowlers have captained a national team in two consecutive ODIs. Hazlewood’s side did everything perfectly today to clinch the ODI series.
Steve Smith Missed Out on a Well-Deserved Hundred.
Steve Smith has started to like facing the Englishmen. He has now been the highest run scorer against England in the past two years. With his 94 off 114 deliveries, he really set the SCG on fire. He would be disappointed not to get to the three figures but today’s innings would have put another feather in his hat. Smith and Labuschagne put up a 100-run 4th-wicket partnership. The fifties from Labuschagne and Marsh helped Australia get to a score of 280 which was a defendable total.
Billings and Vince’s Partnership of 122 Runs Was Not Enough for England to Chase 281.
Jason Roy and Phil Salt came into bat for England, but the opening pair was broken within the first two deliveries as Starc got the early wicket of Roy. David Malan who was the player of the match in the previous match, also returned back to the pavilion in the first over. Starc and Hazlewood were in great shape in the powerplay and the Englishmen really had to come up with something to break the momentum. Having lost the top three in the first 7 overs Sam Billings and James Vince also played a crucial 4th-wicket partnership for England. Sam Billings and James Vince put up scores of 71 and 60 respectively. Once Australia managed to brake the partnership, it all came tumbling down for England. Starc and Zampa were Australia’s best bowlers picking up 4 wickets each. England have lost the series but they still have one chance for consolation. The third ODI is on the 22nd of November before the two sides meet again for the Ashes series in June.
