Australia 298 (Watson 143, Clarke 75, Stokes 5-61) beat England 249 (Bopara 62, Faulkner 3-38) by 49 runs
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As in the Ashes, Shane Watson saved his best until last to enable
Australia to end their almost four-month stay in England with silverware
as they wrapped up the NatWest series with a convincing 49-run victory.
Watson's 143 provided nearly half of Australia's total and his stand of
163 with Michael Clarke, who battled through with his troublesome back,
was the defining period of the match and series.
England's chase only ignited when Ravi Bopara and Jos Buttler were
adding 92 in 13 overs; perhaps it was the autumnal chill which descended
and left spectators huddle up in jacks that prevented an early spark.
But by then it was a monumental task, even for Buttler's nerves of
steel. Kevin Pietersen was run out in the third over and any remnants of
a chance, however slim, disappeared when Eoin Morgan departed straight
after the halfway mark of the innings.
Australia were clearly the better team over the three-and-a-bit ODIs
that the weather allowed and this trophy, although low down in the
priority list when they arrived in late May, will be some solace for
Darren Lehmann - who wasn't even in charge when the Champions Trophy
squad landed at Heathrow. Australia really have been here that long.
That is not to say there are no benefits England can take, and in this
match it was the bowling of Ben Stokes and debutant Chris Jordan - who
replaced the injured Steven Finn - as they shared eight wickets. Stokes
finished with 5 for 61 having struck early in the innings and then
during Australia's collapse of 7 for 87. Both young pace bowlers were
sharp, hitting 90mph, and held their nerve against flashing blades.
As in Cardiff, Australia struggled at the top and tail of their innings
but this time the central plank provided by Watson and Clarke was so
dominant it made a crucial difference. It appeared a rain break in the
10th over might derail their innings when, on resumption, Stokes struck
twice in consecutive balls to leave Australia 48 for 3. But England's
inexperienced attack could not keep up the pressure as Clarke and Watson
feasted on some wayward bowling during their rapid partnership.
Watson reached his eighth one-day hundred from 87 balls in a muscular
display of hitting and then latched on to Joe Root's sixth over, which
cost 28, the most expensive by an England bowler in ODIs, including
three massive leg-side sixes. He was threatening his best score against
England - an unbeaten 161 at the MCG in 2011 - but edged behind to give
Stokes his fourth wicket.
Stokes claimed his fifth two balls later when Mitchell Johnson lobbed
back a return catch and along with Jordan and Boyd Rankin, the latter
superbly economical on another good batting pitch, provided a positive
glimpse at some of England's depth. Jordan had managed to open his
wicket tally in his second over - after being driven twice by Aaron
Finch in his first - when he beat Phillip Hughes for pace and the
left-hander top-edged to midwicket.
Jordan returned in the batting Powerplay, taken early by Clarke in the
29th over, with Australia at the peak of their scoring rate and removed
the Australia captain when he clubbed to mid-off for 74 five balls after
Rankin had dropped him in the same position. Clarke had not been
convincing at the start of his innings, as England tested out his back
with the expected short-pitched attack, but was given early scoring
opportunities to get his innings underway and was rarely under a
run-a-ball. His straight drive for six off Stokes stood out.
The problem for England was that the combined 10 overs of spin from Root
and James Tredwell went for 96; Watson immediately aimed Tredwell over
midwicket in a four-over spell that proved his only one of the day. If
other sides have been taking notes, Tredwell will need to "batten down
the hatches", as he put it the other day, in future series.
Overs 21-30 of Australia's brought 93 runs - a scoring rate considered
impressive for the final 10 of an innings - and at 202 for 3 after 30
overs anything seemed possible, but a combination of some laziness from
them and resilience from England gave the final 20 overs a very
different outcome, to the extent that Australia did not use up their
final five deliveries.
Australia rued their late collapse in Cardiff, but it never had the feel
of a repeat here. The Pietersen-Michael Carberry opening partnership
has not hit it off in this series and for the second time it ended
through a breakdown in communication. Pietersen was beaten but Matthew
Wade could not take the ball cleanly and it bobbled to short fine-leg.
Carberry started to make his way up the pitch, but only made a positive
call a few seconds later, by when there was not enough time for
Pietersen to make his ground.
Carberry's hometown innings - and perhaps, even, his last for England -
was ended by the DRS after Rob Bailey had turned down an appeal from
James Faulkner. Joe Root, who laboured for his 21, dragged on against
the quick and thrifty Johnson when playing without footwork and most
shambolically Luke Wright - a last-minute replacement for Jonathan
Trott, who suffered a back spasm - was run out when he did not even
attempt to ground his bat going for a sharp single.
Adam Voges gained an lbw decision against Bopara with his first ball,
only for DRS to show it was sliding past leg stump, but he claimed the
key wicket of Morgan when the England captain was drawn out of his
crease and Wade did not add to his list of errors.
For a while, as Buttler and Bopara started picking off boundaries at
will, a grandstand finish was not out of the question until Faulkner,
from round the wicket, cleaned up Buttler. Seven balls later Bopara
rifled a catch to cover off Johnson's first ball back to give him his
200th ODI wicket. That was that, barring the finishing touches, but for
anyone who is feeling misty-eyed at the end of England-Australia
contests, don't worry: it all starts again in 66 days.
Andrew McGlashan is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo
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