England vs Australia ODI series review: Defeat leaves Australia reeling before World Cup 2019
Kangaroos lost 4-1 in five-match series against England
Australia has always proud themselves as a real giant in 50-over cricket, which is why any defeat in the format becomes more notable in the sport.
The Steven Smith-led side were supremely dominant in their last in the five-day format, where they thrashed the Joe Root’s England with a thumping 4-0 margin in the recently concluded Ashes series.The victory was so convincing that people thought the following ODI series will take the same route as well, however it was anything but that.
The relatively fresh looking England, this time under the more experienced leader Eoin Morgan, looked a completely transformed team and thrashed the home side in four out of five matches.So what exactly went wrong for the side who were so dominant in the five-day format to just being mediocre in the colors? The answer is pretty much everything.
For starters, the team’s batting performance was no way near to what it was during the Ashes, and the biggest disappointment were captain Smith and his deputy David Warner, who managed to score just 175 runs in 10 innings combined with no half-century in between them.
While England had five players whose average was in excess of 40, Australia had just three, and even out of those three, the team’s highest scorer — opener Aaron Finch — just managed to play first three matches and missed out on the final two.The dominance of England was not limited to the batting averages only, as even in the strike-rate department, there was a massive gap between the two sides as well.
Out of all the recognized batsman in the lineup, Australia just had one — all-rounder Marcus Stoinis — who had better runs to ball ratio, whereas for England, there were five players including the likes Chris Woakes, Jason Roy, Jos Buttler, who scored at more than 100 strike rate.
That is not limited to the batting statistics only, as also in the bowling department, Australia had 0no answer to England’s supremacy, especially after ace pacers Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc could not manage to play the whole series and was not as effective as they were in the longest format of the game.
In their absence, Australia looked like an outfit which lacked spark, hunger, and passion, which was exactly opposite to the English outfit, who had numerous options and were willing to give their all for the team.
The fielding was another area, where Australia looked sloppy at times and could not manage to grab opportunities when they arrive, something contrary to Australian teams of past.Even on the captaincy front, England’s Eoin Morgan looked more creative than Smith with his field placing’s and with the bowling changes as well.
Australia’s performance in the series was not at par with the requirement of staying competitive at the international level, and with 2019 World Cup approaching fast, the Baggy Greens will have to improve immensely if they are to have any chance of retaining the title.
