Aussies clinch nail-biting thriller at the Oval

by prasad on September 5, 2009

What a way to start the one-day series for Australia as the side finally tasted success (quite an unconvincing one at that)…thanks mainly to some disciplined bowling performances by Brett Lee and Nathan Bracken especially in the last over. The last ball of the match needs a special mention here.

Ryan Sidebottom at the crease who was given the arduous task of scoring the maximum (something which he has not done till date) and he only managed to score a single off Bracken giving huge cheers in the Australian dug-out and some sombre faces in the Pom’s side. The Australians scored 260 for 5 with Callum Ferguson top-scoring with a patient 71 and receiving good support from skipper Michael Clarke who made 45 and Cameron White who scored 53.

For the Englishmen, the spinners Adil Rashid and Graeme Swann bowled well in tandemn and gave away little. Rashid in particular bowled a well-scripted 10 overs for a miserly 37 runs and impressed all and sundry with his guile and drift. The spinner kept the faith shown by spin legend shane Warne on him. When Australians came to bowl, Brett Lee was spitting fire from his end and ran and bowled just to prove a point.

His nine overs for 65 runs for a solitary wicket might not tell the true story but his line and length were negated with no-balls and wides and harsh edges that really took the sheen of his bowling figures.

Australians fielded well but England survived most of the times because of those unintentional stroke-making which saw Lee and Shane Watson bleed runs. Clarke on his part was in control of the situation but looked worried when those thick edges were going towards the third-man boundary. But Australia will take this win as it will give them the required confidence before the second game at Lord’s on Sunday.

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