Australia stunned the world cricket by chasing the highest target in the history of ICC CT & ODI WC. Aussies hunted down 352 runs with ease even when their star batters Steven Smith & Travis Head were dismissed cheaply. Josh Inglis‘ flamboyant ton of 120 runs in 86 deliveries augurs that Australia’s future is in good hands. Let’s explore the reasons behind one of the greatest victories in modern cricket.
(1) Matthew Short & Marnus Labuschagne rescue the collapse
There were high hopes from Travis Head to up the ante at the start while chasing a mammoth 352 runs. The deadly speedsters Mark Wood & Jofra Archer were clocking 150 km/hr regularly and showed good control in powerplay overs. It seemed as if Head wanted to hit every ball out of the park and Archer in 4th over while bowling around the wicket didn’t give him much room and he gave a return catch to him.
It is often said, one wicket brings another and that happened for England. The surface undoubtedly was a batting paradise and Smith wanted to dictate the terms same like Head & Wood sent back Smith to pavilion to just 5 runs. The star batters Travis Head and Steven Smith just managed to score 11 runs between them & Aussies looked down & out with 27-2 in 4.1 overs.
It was a mountainous task for Matthew Short & Marnus Labuschagne to take the team out of trouble. Matthew Short didn’t got perturbedby the fall of wickets and was playing his natural attacking game. It looked like a plan when Marnus targeted Brydon Carse in his very first over (*10th over of match) and hit him for 3 fours. Australia scored 76 runs in first 10 overs for the loss of 2 wickets.
Short & Marnus made sure that they don’t play a string of dot balls against Adil Rashid & Liam Livingstone. The surface wasn’t a great rank turner as the spinners had to toil a lot. The dot balls pressure got to Marnus & Short as their partnership of 95 runs was broken by Adil Rashid & Labuschagne was dismissed on 47 runs in 45 balls. Australia was in a precarious position at 136-4 in 22.2 overs where Short gave a simple return catch to Livingstone after scoring 63 runs in 66 deliveries.
(2) Alex Carey & Josh Inglis pull off a heist
England made a mistake by taking the wicket-keeper duo of Alex Carey & Josh Inglis lightly. Carey & Inglis ran 13 twos and Buttler’s decision to make Joe Root & Livingstone bowl around the wicket to Inglis didn’t work well. There was dew which made life tremendously harder for spinners and the outfield already was lightning fast.
Alex Carey played sweep & reverse sweep shots smartly and the way he & Inglis ran a quick single was a treat to watch. Adil Rashid used all the tricks in the book and just when he was about to dismiss Alex Carey, Jofra Archer at deep wicket dropped the catch when score was 248-4 with 12.1 overs left & Aussies requiring 102 runs more to win.
Alex Carey got to his fifty after the dropped catch. Jofra Archer was seen in pain after his first spell. Jofra Archer’s short ball ploy wasn’t annoying Inglis & Carey who were whacking him all around the park. Brydon Carse though wasn’t a threat at all. In the 42nd over, though he outfoxed Carey but it was perhaps a too little late as Australia needed 70 runs to win from 8.2 overs. Carey & Inglis were involved in a huge partnership of 146 runs in 116 deliveries. Carey would rue that he couldn’t get to 3 digit mark but his 69 runs knock in 63 balls was quite remarkable where he struck 8 fours.
(3) Josh Inglis & Glenn Maxwell annihilate England
It was a near perfect timing for Glenn Maxwell to come to bat who not only had the license to play big shots but the English bowlers looked crestfallen which made his job a bit easier. Mark Wood & Jofra Archer were bowling thunderbolts but we often forget that the more pace the more quickly the ball gets into the stands and that happened with the fast bowling quicks.
Josh Inglis got to his maiden ton in a very grand fashion when he deposited the ball to deep midwicket as the slower delivery from Archer didn’t trouble him. Josh Inglis smashed a joint fastest century in the history of ICC Champions; he got to the feat in 77 balls and equaled the legendary Virender Sehwag’s ton against England in Colombo RPS 2002.
Maxwell & Inglis were toying with English bowlers and it looked as if there was book cricket. Josh Inglis wrapped up the match by a stunning pull shot on the bowling of Mark Wood to deep wicket. Australia chased down 352 with 2.3 overs left in match and Inglis scored 120 runs in 86 balls and struck 8 fours and 6 sixes Australia won the match by 5 wickets and registered their first victory against England in ICC CT after 2009 edition as in 2013 & 2017 they had lost both the games.
Victory for ages for Australia
Australia would be over the moon as this win is a testament that Australia aren’t reliant on their star cricketer to perform and win the game. We should not forget that the likes of Mitchell Marsh, Marcus Stoinis & Cameron Green weren’t a part of side (*the players are injured & Stoinis retired) yet they pulled off a miracle.
Jos Buttler’s captaincy was questionable and also stating that dew helped Australia win the game doesn’t sound good. If we notice, Buttler was quite anxious after every boundary was struck and not able to defend 352 runs with a express bowling attack raises a lot of questions. This defeat will hurt England not because they couldn’t defend 352 runs but it was Australia who decimated them.
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