England under Harry Brook exhibited a sparkling all-round show to level the five-match ODI series against Australia at Lord’s, in a remarkable comeback having lost the first couple of games. Captain Harry Brook led from the front with a rapid 87 off just 58, following up his maiden ODI century with Liam Livingstone rubbing salt into the wounds of the visitors with a 25-ball half-century as England amassed 312 runs after the match was reduced to 39 overs-per-side due to multiple spells of rain in the capital city of London.
England levelled the series in style with a massive 186-run win over Australia in the rain-shortened fourth ODI at Lord’s. It was a victory set up by their batters who, led by Harry Brook’s 87 and Liam Livingstone’s whirlwind 27-ball 62*, mounted a total of 312 for 5 in a 39-overs-per-side affair after being sent in to bat. It proved to be too tall an ask for Australia, who were bowled out for 126 inside 25 overs.
Pitch and Toss
The pitch looks good, it looks nice and hard. It’s extremely cloudy, but Lord’s has a good drainage system for a 39 over game. Nothing much to concern about, reckons Eoin Morgan. The players are out warming up.
Australia skipper Mitchell Marsh won the toss and chose to bowl with Travis Head and Adam Zampa coming back in playing XI and included Josh Inglis for injured Cameron Green. England skipper Harry Brook after the win in 3rd ODI made no changes in his Playing XI.
Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Duckett take England past 300 in 39 overs
England racked up a daunting total of 312 for 5 in their rain-revised quota of 39 overs in the fourth ODI against Australia at Lord’s, thanks to half centuries from Harry Brook (87) and Ben Duckett (63), and a late-overs assault from Liam Livingstone (62* off 27).
The start was held up by over two hours due to wet weather in London but once the action kicked in, there was no stopping it. Josh Hazlewood bowled exactly like how you would expect him to in overcast conditions, beating the bat and forcing false shots even as England navigated to 35/0 in the eight-over powerplay. Hazlewood, for all his accurate bowling, managed just the lone breakthrough in his five-over opening burst, when Philip Salt sliced one to backward point.
Will Jacks was scalped by Mitchell Marsh soon after, leaving England circumspect at 71 for 2 in the 14th over after a steady start in testing conditions.
The third-wicket partnership between Harry Brook and Duckett, worth 79 runs, was what injected some momentum into the innings. Harry Brook, fresh off a century in his last innings, found timing and placement from the get-go. He looked comfortable in particular against the spin of Adam Zampa, who was back in the mix after missing the last game due to illness.
Harry Brook’s, when on 17, was given out when he seemed to have glanced one down leg to the keeper but the replays confirmed that the ball had bounced in front of Josh Inglis, who was keeping the wickets in this match.
Duckett, meanwhile, was going at run-a-ball and playing the ideal foil to Harry Brook until he mistimed a sweep against Zampa. Brook then managed to add 75 runs for the fourth wicket with Jamie Smith, looking sublime in the process as England brought up 200 in only the 28th over. However, he found long-on against Zampa and perished for 87 off 58 balls, an innings that saw him hit 11 fours and a six off Zampa.
It didn’t help that Smith was out in the next over to a long hop from Glenn Maxwell but his dismissal gave Liam Livingstone just the license he needed for the final seven overs. Livingstone hit three fours and seven sixes in his innings, four of the maximums coming in the final over of the innings that saw as many as 28 runs scored.
Mitchell Starc was at the receiving end of that assault and became the first Australian to concede as many in an ODI. Livingstone’s belligerent innings also meant that England hit 12 sixes in their innings, the most by a team in an ODI at Lord’s. That it came in a 39-over innings suggested a lot about the challenge at hand for Australia, who chose to bowl first.
Earlier in the day, the match start was held up by over two hours due to wet weather in London but once the action kicked in, there was no stopping it. Hazlewood bowled exactly like how you would expect him to in overcast conditions, beating the bat and forcing false shots even as England navigated to 35 for no-loss in the eight-over powerplay. But for all his accurate bowling, the tall fast bowler managed just the lone breakthrough in his five-over opening burst, when Philip Salt sliced one to backward point.
Will Jacks was scalped by Mitchell Marsh soon after, leaving England circumspect at 71 for 2 in the 14th over after a steady start in testing conditions. The third-wicket partnership between Harry Brook and Duckett, worth 79 runs, was what injected some momentum into the innings.
Harry Brook, fresh off a century in his last innings, found timing and placement from the get-go. He looked comfortable in particular against the spin of Adam Zampa, who was back in the mix after missing the last game due to illness. The England captain, when on 17, was given out caught down the legside but the replays confirmed that the ball had bounced in front of Josh Inglis, who was keeping the wickets in this match.
Duckett, meanwhile, was going at run-a-ball and playing the ideal foil to Harry Brook until he mistimed a sweep against Zampa. Harry Brook then managed to add 75 runs for the fourth wicket with Jamie Smith, looking sublime in the process as England brought up 200 in only the 28th over. However, he found long-on against Zampa and perished for 87 off 58 balls, an innings that saw him hit 11 fours and a six off the leg spinner.
It didn’t help that Jamie was out in the next over to a long hop from Glenn Maxwell but his dismissal gave Liam Livingstone just the license he needed for the final seven overs. Livingstone hit three fours and seven sixes in his innings, four of the maximums coming in the final over of the innings that saw as many as 28 runs scored. Mitchell Starc was at the receiving end of that assault and became the first Australian to concede as many in an ODI.
Livingstone’s belligerent innings also meant that England hit 12 sixes in their innings, the most by a team in an ODI at Lord’s. That it came in a 39-over innings suggested a lot about the challenge at hand for Australia and so it proved.
Harry Brook was named the player of the match for his knock, which set up the game for the hosts earlier. England got off to a sedate start and even though Phil Salt got out after scoring just 22, he did well enough to get through the powerplay before Ben Duckett and Harry Brook took charge. Duckett continued his outstanding form across all formats to really lay into the Australian bowling line-up with Sean Abbott being taken to the cleaners.
Harry Brook and Jamie Smith then took apart the spinners Glenn Maxwell and Adam Zampa to force Marsh to try something different and nothing worked. Once England had Australia by the collar, they didn’t leave it and the visitors were left asking for mercy by the end, especially how Liam Livingstone finished the innings.
Livingstone, who earned an ODI recall based on his T20 exploits in the recent series, treated Mitchell Starc like a club-level bowler smacking 28 runs including four sixes and a four off the final over of the innings. Livingstone remained unbeaten on 27-ball 62 as he helped England end on a flourish and ended Australia’s hopes of a comeback.
Matthew Potts bowls Australia to mere 126 runs to set up massive 186 series levelling victory for England
England levelled the series in style with a massive 186-run win over Australia in the rain-shortened fourth ODI at Lord’s. It was a victory set up by their batters who, led by Harry Brook’s 87 and Liam Livingstone’s whirlwind 27-ball 62*, mounted a total of 312 for 5 in a 39-overs-per-side affair after being sent in to bat. It proved to be too tall an ask for Australia, who were bowled out for 126 inside 25 overs.
The insipid batting performance gave Australia their fourth-biggest defeat in ODIs (by runs) and their second loss on the trot in the series, setting up a cracking decider in Bristol. It was also the ninth consecutive time that a chasing team had lost at Lord’s.
Australia had no option but to go hard at the target from the word go and that’s what Travis Head did, picking 19 runs off Brydon Carse in the penultimate over of the powerplay. Matthew Potts’ wayward lines at the start and Mitchell Marsh’s dropped catch at first slip had hitherto only added to England’s frustration but all that didn’t seem to matter when Carse found a way through Head’s defenses immediately after the powerplay.
The writing was perhaps on the wall when Archer had Glenn Maxwell caught behind, accounting for the batter for the third time in seven games. The rest of the batting folded quickly as Potts picked three of the remaining four wickets. Adil Rashid wrapped up the proceedings when he bowled Josh Hazlewood.Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh gave the daunting chase a promising start – Head launching a gigantic pull out of the ground over the Tavern Stand – and after the eight-over powerplay Australia were 66 without loss compared to England’s 34 without loss. Overall, the 16 sixes hit in the match was a record for a Lord’s ODI. However, sustaining the tempo was a tall order. Head swung across the line at Brydon Carse and Steven Smith edged an ugly charge at Potts.
Then Archer produced something special. An off-cutter at 88.2mph initially shaped in at Marsh before straightening to beat the edge and clatter off stump. It was a gem of a delivery to give Archer his first Lord’s wicket since 2019 and he rightly wheeled away in celebration. When his next ball clattered into the forearm of Marnus Labuschagne, the 2019 flashbacks were in full flow, albeit in coloured clothes, and Archer also added Glenn Maxwell during Australia’s collapse
Before long, however, his ball to Marsh had a contender for delivery of the game (or series) when Carse found an unplayable offering to flatten Labuschagne’s off stump. It was a collective effort from England’s quicks who shared nine wickets – Potts taking three wickets in four balls to rush through the lower order – before Adil Rashid finished things off.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Australia loosing skipper Mitchell Marsh said : Fair play to England, they put us under a lot of pressure. They completely outplayed us. Probably a bit above-par, Liam Livingstone played a gem of an innings. In a run-chase like that, you need one or two big partnerships.
England bowled really well, we lost wickets continuously. That’s cricket. It’s going to be a great experience (final ODI), we obviously would have liked to wrap up the series in the last couple of games. England have come back really strongly, we go to Bristol, excited for the opportunity.
England winning skipper and Player of the Match for his 87 runs Harry Brook said : We have taken all the positives and the momentum we had from the first two games and brought them to the last two games. Ducky (Duckett), we know how good he is, up top he’s unbelievably tough to bowl to. We know what Livi is capable of at the back end and he showed it beautifully tonight.
It’s just identifying times when we need to put pressure on them more. If we get a boundary early on in the over, then we know that there’s probably a chance to try and apply more pressure there. It’s just picking and choosing your moments and making sure you execute. They (England bowlers) bowled beautifully. On an interesting wicket, we got a few too many over par but they bowled beautifully, they smashed the lengths beautifully and they got the rewards.
He (Jofra Archer) was bowling quick tonight as well, it was good to watch with a bit of swing and seam movement, hopefully we can see that a lot more going forward. It’s always nice to be scoring runs, you think a bit more clearly when you are playing well.
England produced an electric all-round display to set up a series decider at Bristol on Sunday, as they thrashed Australia by 186 runs at Lord’s. Harry Brook’s sublime 87 formed the backbone of the innings which was capped off by the thunderous hitting of Liam Livingstone in a ground-record 25-ball half-century. Jofra Archer then briefly rekindled memories of 2019 with the best spell of his latest comeback, while Matthew Potts bagged a career-best 4 for 38 in an overwhelming performance.Harking back to last year’s dramatic Ashes Test, there was also, briefly, a moment with an Australian wicketkeeper in the spotlight. On 17, Harry Brook glanced Mitchell Starc down the leg side and was given out but queried whether the catch had carried to Josh Inglis, who had been recalled to the side after injury. The replays showed the ball pitching just before his gloves. The crowd booed as the pictures came on the big screen, accompanied by a few chants of ‘same old Aussies, always cheating’, but it was a tame interlude compared to 2023.
Following his maiden ODI hundred in Durham, Brook cruised to a 37-ball fifty, adding 79 in 53 balls for the third wicket with Ben Duckett and 75 in 47 with Jamie Smith for the fourth, as England went through the gears in a game cut to 39 overs by heavy morning rain.
Livingstone produced a grandstand finish to the innings with a mighty display of striking, including four sixes off the last over bowled by Starc, whose 28 runs conceded amounted to the most expensive over by an Australian bowler in men’s ODIs. England amassed 156 off their last 15 overs. Unlike last summer, an England-Australia series goes to the final game 2-2, although the weather in Bristol may yet have the final say.
England have hammered Australia at Lord’s to level the series 2-2. A shortened game due to rain, the hosts were inserted to bat. They got off to a decent start against some disciplined new-ball bowling attack. Duckett and Harry Brook forged a crucial partnership for the third wicket which laid the platform for the hosts. While both of them notched up fifties, it was captain Harry Brook who was the aggressor. He continued from where he left in the previous ODI but missed out on a ton today.
Livingstone applied the finishing touches by punishing Starc in the final over (6 0 6 6 6 4) and England crossed 300. In reply, Australia got off to a flier despite plenty of plays and misses. They were 66/0 at the end of the first powerplay (8 overs), but things went downhill after that for the visitors. Carse cleaned up Head, Smith tried to be too ambitious, Archer nipped out Marsh with a peach, Carse added two more to his tally in the 15th over and Australia just capitulated. Brook employed just four bowlers and they wrapped up the proceedings inside 25 overs.
Excellent comeback from England to square the series after being 0-2 down. We have a series decider and the hosts have all the momentum leading into that game. From 2-0 up to 2-2, Australia will require a staggering return to form to win the series as England ride on a high to Bristol for the decider.