Innings break England 259 (Root 62, Tye 5-46) v Australia
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
West Australians AJ Tye and Mitchell Marsh excelled on their new home ground as Australia restricted England to 259 in the first ODI at Perth’s multipurpose stadium.
The visitors looked headed for a tall total when Jason Roy was hitting the ball with plenty of power early on, but he, Jonny Bairstow and Alex Hales all failed to go on from promising starts to leave Joe Root more or less stranded with the England tail. In the game after taking his first international wickets, Tye used his vast array of pace variations to scoop five, reaping the rewards of some earlier good work by Marsh and also Adam Zampa, who delivered his best spell of the series.
For England, there will be the sense of opportunities missed at the top of the order, on a pitch that offered some changes in pace and bounce but was otherwise ideal from batting. The 14 balls England did not use, being bowled out in the 48th over, summed up the squandering of an opportunity to stretch Australia further.
Having lost the series 3-0, Australia delivered another much-improved display in the field, with better balance to their bowling attack and also a series of high-quality catches, plus the captain Steven Smith’s direct hit to run out Adil Rashid.
Glenn Maxwell had come back into the Australian side for the first time since last year’s tour of India in place of Cameron White but will bat at No. 6, with Marcus Stoinis promoted to No. 3. Starc returned to the team in place of Pat Cummins, who complained of a tight hamstring after the Adelaide match on Friday. England rested Chris Woakes and Mark Wood, their places taken by David Willey and Jake Ball.
Smith admitted that his decision to bowl first was based largely on unknowns about the stadium’s drop-in pitch, which offered an an odd-looking mosaic of dry grass and greener areas. But it played well from the moment Roy flicked Starc’s first ball of the match through square leg, the vast square boundaries for a stadium devised primarily for AFL matches allowing an all-run four.
Having begun the series with a whirlwind 180 at the MCG, Roy seemed intent on ending it in a similar manner, driving powerfully down the ground and through cover across a fast outfield. The ball after hitting Starc back over his head for six, he edged a ball angling across him through to Tim Paine, only to be reprieved by the detection of a no-ball on replays after the event. Starc beat Roy for pace with the subsequent free-hit, but the no-ball looked likely to be costly as England strode to 44 in the first five overs.
Some tighter bowling from the West Australian duo of Marsh and Tye forced Roy’s scoring rate to slacken, and ultimately drew his wicket when trying to force the pace once more – beaten by one of Tye’s slower-ball variations and skying to mid on. Bairstow then took it upon himself to drive the scoreboard forward, but he too was dismissed after making a start, dragging an indeterminate prod at Starc onto the stumps after Smith brought back his No. 1 strike bowler.
Marsh, who bowled with notable economy, also ensured Hales would not go on from his own start by coaxing a top-edge from a short ball, and Eoin Morgan swiped unsuccessfully at another ball banged into the pitch, taken by Stoinis running in from deep point. Jos Buttler briefly threatened to go on the offensive before he too was fooled by Tye’s subtle changes in pace, leaving Root to try to lift the tally with the bowlers.
He paid a price in pain when one of Tye’s deliveries came through slower than expected, Root through the shot and struck a painful blow in the ribs that he took some time to recover from. None of Moeen Ali, Rashid or David Willey could endure, and when Root found David Warner at long on, the end was Tye’s.
And, within minutes of leaving the field, waving the match ball to all corners, Tye’s day got even better when he was picked up by Kings XI Punjab for $1.1 million at the IPL auction in Bangalore.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo