The Australian team have not quite recovered from the blow of ball tampering which shook the cricketing world. Australian Captain Steve Smith and Vice-Captain David Warner are facing a 12 month ban while opener Cameron Bancroft is facing a nine-month ban for the distasteful incident. The Australian team, bereft of their explosive batsmen and experienced player, is currently touring England for a five match one day international (ODI) series. The lack of experience is shown in the manner in which the England cricket team has won the first three matches.
The thrashing which the team of Australia received in the third match held at Trent Bridge was legendary to say the least, and has found its rightful place in the history books. The England team batting first put up a mammoth total of 481 runs at the cost of 6 wickets in 50 overs. This is the highest score till date in an ODI; England eclipsed their own record of 444-3 against Pakistan at the same venue. Australia was decimated and were bowled out for 239 in 37 overs. England won by a huge margin of 242 runs. This also sealed the fate of the series which England has won by winning three games in a row.
English batsmen scored a whooping 41 fours and 21 sixes to reach the 481 mark. Alex Hales, who was awarded the Man of the Match trophy, scored a magnificent 147 in just 92 balls, supported by Johnny Bairstow’s knock of 139 which again came in the same number of deliveries. With Jason Roy and Captain Eoin Morgan chipping in with a quickfire 82 and 67 respectively, the English looked fully in control, manipulating the field and the bowlers with ease. The spinning duo of Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali did the maximum damage to the Australian batting side by collectively taking 7 wickets.
Australia were never really in control of the match, neither while bowling nor on the wicket. It seemed as if a club level team from Australia were being made to play a match against the English cricket team. Travis Head’s 51 runs off 38 balls was the only fightback from the Australian batting side. Their batsmen looked out of place and were equally humiliated as their bowlers by the manhandling from the English batting line up in the first innings.
The ongoing football World Cup in Russia is being watched by millions of fans around the globe. Cricket had taken the backseat in the last week or so, but this match made people sit up and take notice. Australia will have to go through an ordeal to recover from the plundering which ensued in the third match of the series. Their hopes of forming a strong unit prior to the 2019 Cricket World Cup have already received a severe blow from this match. Good show by England and best of luck to Australia, since they’ll clearly be needing plenty of it.
Note- This is not the highest score in the ODIs, the New Zealand women’s cricket team had scored 490/4 against Ireland earlier this month on June 8th, 2018.
