5th ODI: Australia stun England to snatch thrilling victory

Coulter-Nile, McKay help hosts win final match by five runs and sweep series 4-1.

ADELAIDE: Australia pulled off a stunning five-run final-over victory over a nervy England in the fifth One-Day International (ODI) at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday to sweep the series 4-1.

England were bowled out on the fourth ball of the last over as the hosts fought back from what had looked like a losing position for most of the match.

The visitors had restricted Australia to 217 for nine wickets with a tight bowling display, but themselves ended up all out for 212.

Skipper Michael Clarke praised Australia’s spirited fight back.

“A magnificent performance by the boys, especially with the ball,” he said. “I thought our batting was disappointing. For us to win the game, we had to bowl England out.”



And they did just that in dramatic fashion with England needing just six runs to win.

The visitors contrived to turn another winning position into defeat.

“We should have got over the line there,” said England captain Alastair Cook. “We got ourselves into a good position.

“Australia have had a great summer against us and they have managed to win at the critical times. It has been a tough couple of months for us but we’ve got a lot of things we can work on.”

Bowlers on top on slow drop-in pitch

Both sides found batting difficult on a day when the bowlers were well on top on a slow drop-in pitch.

George Bailey top-scored for Australia with 56 off 74 balls, while Joe Root hit 55 for England but took 86 balls to do it.

Nathan Coulter-Nile finished with figures of three for 34 runs off his 10 overs and Clint McKay, who did much of the final damage, took three for 36 for the hosts.

England wrap up the tour with three Twenty20 matches starting in Hobart on Wednesday, Melbourne on Friday and Sydney next Sunday.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 27^th, 2014.

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