Michael Clarke Produces Top Performance As Australia Defeat England In ODI

Michael Clarke produced a top-class performance as Australia defeated England in the first of their five-test series of ODI's, with the skipper scoring his first one-day century against the hosts.

Clarke scored 105 from 102 balls at Old Traffod to help the visitors to 315-7 after 20 overs, while George Bailey also put in a commendable performance by scoring 82 runs of 67 balls alongside his captain.

England, meanwhile, were unable to produce the same magic when they took to the crease, with Kevin Pietersen, skipper Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler each scoring a half-century, but a total of 227 before England were dismissed wasn't enough to catch a fresh Australia side.

Clarke was in good spirits after the match, which may have saved a few of Australia's blushes after they were convincingly beaten in the most recent Ashes in England, telling reporters: "It's nice to get a win and it's a good start to this series for us.

"England bowled pretty well up front on a good batting wicket, but all our boys did a fantastic job. To make over 300 was a really good score and all our bowlers executed.

"It's a good start for us, but there's three important games to go.

"I'd like to play the next three one-dayers and every Test at Manchester, it's a nice batting wicket.

"Mitchell Johnson bowled with really good pace, hopefully it's the start of a big series for him."

Meanwhile, Morgan was frustrated that his side were unable to catch the Aussies' total, explaining: "300+ on that wicket was above par but it was well within our capabilities and we needed someone to lead from the front at the top of the order. That didn't happen.

"I don't think I would have changed my decision to bowl first. Regardless of what we did first, we didn't restrict them to enough.

"I don't think we were a bowler short, but we weren't particularly happy with our bowling performance."

Questions had surrounded the England side's lack of top bowlers available for the one-dayer, but Morgan added: "I'm not concerned by the balance of the side, we have a lot of bowling options. Not enough people put their hand up today."