The 4th ODI: All to play for in Headingley

England’s 93-run win sets up series nicely as Australia lead 2-1


News Desk September 10, 2015
Eoin Morgan has hailed the contributions of Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid and James Taylor in England's victory. PHOTO: AFP

Eoin Morgan’s rejuvenated side will be hoping to claim a second win on the trot against Australia at Headingley on Friday to level the series before the fifth and final match on Sunday.

A much-improved batting performance from England saw them amass exactly 300 for the loss of eight wickets before English spinners Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid suffocated the Australian chase. The duo claimed five wickets for 73 runs in 20 overs to help England to a convincing 93-run win and halve Australia’s series lead to 2-1.

The series has been following a similar pattern so far, with the team batting first putting on a score in excess of 300 before dismissing the opposition for under 250. The fans will therefore be hoping for a closer contest than the ones they have witnessed so far. The Ashes Tests were similarly one-sided affairs as all five matches finished inside four days.

However, England and Australia have taken turns to dominate, with either one of them failing to show up, meaning that the ODI series is still up for grabs.

Steven Smith’s men will be confident that Manchester was just a blip, with the men from Down Under losing only their second match against the hosts in the last 13 encounters. A similar dichotomy can be seen in the ranking’s table, where world champions Australia lead the line while England, who couldn’t even make it into the knockout stages of the World Cup, languishing in sixth, just three ahead of Bangladesh.

England on the other hand will be willed on by a partisan crowd in Leeds and will be hoping the likes of Jason Roy, James Taylor and Morgan himself can continue to fire with the bat.

For now, it is anyone’s guess which side will turn up and which one won’t.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 11th,  2015.

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