Joe Root stars as England secure commanding 2-0 ODI series lead over Australia
KEY POINTS
- Test captain Joe Root scores 46 not out and takes two wickets for 31 runs as tourists seal four-wicket win.
- Alex Hales and Jonny Bairstow produce an important second-wicket stand of 117 during successful run chase.
- Aaron Finch notches his second successive century in a losing effort for weakened Australia at The Gabba.
England completed another successful run chase at The Gabba in Brisbane on Friday (19 January) to take a 2-0 lead in their five-match ODI series against Australia.
Having already confidently eclipsed 304 at Melbourne's MCG on Sunday thanks to a record-breaking 180 from opener Jason Roy, the tourists, while not at their best with the bat, remained calm to easily reach a target of 271 and secure their second successive victory by four wickets.
Joe Root [46*] and Chris Woakes steered England to the finish after Alex Hales [57] and Jonny Bairstow [60] had put on a second-wicket stand of 117 to recover from the early loss of Roy [2], who was unable to replicate those aforementioned heroics as he fell to Mitchell Starc in the very first over of the match.
Debutant Jhye Richardson later accounted for that pair in quick succession and an inside edge onto his own stumps off Starc from skipper Eoin Morgan [21] appeared to leave the match in the balance.
However, Jos Buttler added a quick 42 alongside Root to help steady the ship before both he and Moeen Ali [1] were dismissed in Starc's final over.
The New South Wales paceman finished with impressive figures of 4-59 but was powerless to prevent Root and Woakes from sealing the win with 34 balls to spare at 274-6. The latter made his 39* from just 27 deliveries and ended with a flourish in the form of back-to-back boundaries.
Earlier in the day, Australia had reached 271-9 after winning the toss and electing to bat thanks to a second successive century from Aaron Finch [106]. However, England's bowling attack - particularly the busy spinners - remained disciplined, with part-timer Root and Adil Rashid grabbing two wickets apiece and Moeen, Woakes and Mark Wood all proving inexpensive.
Likewise Liam Plunkett, who eventually forced Finch to pick out Roy at mid on to claim his 100th ODI wicket.
"I thought they were exceptional on a particularly hot day," Morgan enthused about the production of his bowlers, per Sky Sports. "I'd like to think we'll get better as we go on but today was an outstanding bowling performance.
"It was far from our best performance with the bat, which is exciting in a way as we are 2-0 up in the series and we're still looking for our complete performance as a batting unit. Hopefully that comes in Sydney on Sunday."
England, thrashed 4-0 in the recent one-sided Ashes, will hope to take an unassailable 3-0 lead when the series heads to The SCG on Sunday before concluding with two more contests in Adelaide and Perth.
