ENG vs AUS | Brook ton ends Australia’s 13-match winning streak to keep England alive in series

Opting to bowl first, England’s new ball operators Jofra Archer and Matthew Potts managed to extract movement off the deck and in the air to keep openers Matthew Short and Mitchell Marsh contained before the former broke the shackles with a six in the fourth over, only to hole out two deliveries later. Marsh and Steve Smith thereafter struggled to score freely and the pressure culminated in the skipper’s scalp five balls after the powerplay ended with the score 47/2. Conditions kept getting tougher for the batters once the field spread out, further hampered by some tight bowling from the host pacers, but Cameron Green and Smith kept finding the occassional boundary against the spinners to keep things afloat. The duo’s resilience lasted 16 overs, worth 84 runs, until Jacob Bethell finally provided the breakthrough by having Green caught at mid-on for 42. Even though Marnus Labuschagne followed suit without scoring four deliveries later, Smith continued in the same vein to bring up a 71-ball half-century and it took a spectacular take by Brydon Carse near the boundary to dispatch the veteran for a marathon 60. However, the momentum shifted rapidly thereon, as Alex Carey and Glenn Maxwell went after the bowlers to drastically improve the score from 172/5 after 35 with a 45-ball 54 stand. mxwell took a particular liking for Liam Livingstone, smashing three boundaries in his first over, but the part-timer had the last laugh by scalping him on the last ball. Aaron Hardie took the same approach as his compatriot to slam a quickfire 26-ball 44 while Carey remained unbeaten on 77 off 65 deliveries to take the total to an unlikely 304/7 after 50 overs.

In response, Mitchell Starc came out with a vengeance, first dispatching Phil Salt for an eight-ball duck and then sending Ben Duckett packing for cheap in a brilliant four-over new ball spell. But as was the case for the visitors, numbers three nad four Harry Brook and Will Jacks stabilized the innings, taking the score to 45/2 at the end of the powerplay and then amped up the scoring rate once they were settled. Frequent boundaries followed as Aussies became desperate for a breakthrough, resorting to a short ball ploy particularly for Brook but to no avail. Jacks and Brook brought up their half-centuries off 55 and 54 balls respectively as the stand grew to 156 to hand the hosts complete control of the encpounter. It was Green who eventually provided the breakthrough by dismissing Jacks for a quicker than run-a-ball 84, and then added Jamie Smith to his kitty after a strugglesome 16-ball knock. However, the Brook express continued with aplomb to bring up an 87-ball ton, his first in the format, while Liam Livingstone provided able company at the other end to take the bowlers to the cleaners. By the time rain interrupted proeedings, their 45-ball 57 run stand had whittled down the required equation to a paltry 51 runs in 74 balls, thus handing England a comfortable 46-run win by DLS method.