Marsh’s crucial four-wicket haul helps Australia claim ODI series

By MATTHEW BALMER

Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh ran riot against England in the ODI series decider, ripping through their middle order to bowl the home side out for 138.

Marsh earned man of the match honours after he dismissed Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali and David Willey within seven overs.

Australian opener Aaron Finch and middle order batsman George Bailey made light work of the target, combining for a partnership of 109 as they chased the target with 154 balls to spare.

Finch struck 70 runs from 64 balls, while Bailey scored 41 runs from 45 balls scoring an average of 5.75 runs each over.

With the target set at 139 to win, Australia lost opener Joe Burns in the third over after he was caught by the wicketkeeper for a duck off the bowling of David Willey.

Teammate Steve Smith soon joined him in the pavilion for 12 just before the lunch break after Mark Wood’s delivery clipped the bat’s edge and carried to the keeper.

Earlier, Mitchell Starc and John Hastings ripped through the English top order, reducing them to 3/22 in the sixth over.

Starc dismissed Jason Roy for an LBW, a decision that would have been overturned if reviewed. John Hastings then dismissed Alex Hales and James Taylor in the space of 11 balls.

Eoin Morgan was struck on the side of the helmet by the bowling of Starc in the seventh over.

He was assessed for several minutes on the field by England’s medical team before retiring hurt and did not return, leaving England a man down with the bat.

Ben Stokes was able to provide some resistance with the bat, scoring 42 runs before becoming Marsh’s fourth victim when he was dismissed for an LBW.

It was left to all-rounder Adil Rashid to try and pull England to a respectable total. But he managed just 32 in partnership with No.11 batsman Reece Topley.

The 21-year-old Topley was on debut, and despite his meagre average of 6.66 in 30 one-day matches at domestic level, he stuck with Rashid for just under 10 overs.

Rashid reached 35 before Agar broke the partnership when he had Topley plumb LBW for just six runs.

The target was never going to be enough for England and Australia passed the total with ease to claim the series 3-2.

Mitchell Marsh was also proclaimed man of the series and will look to carry his strong form into the test series against Bangladesh in October.

MATCH SUMMARY
Fifth One-Day International, Manchester
England 138 (33 overs): Stokes 42, Rashid 35*; Marsh 4/27, Hastings 3/21
Australia 2/140 (24.2 overs): Finch 70*, Bailey 41*; Willey 1/13, Wood 1/25