Buttler shines to seal the series
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After a frustrating Ashes series, England stroke back in the ODIs to prove their supremacy in the format. They defeated the hosting nation by 16 runs on Sunday at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
After winning the first two ODIs by five wickets and four wickets respectively, England won the 3rd clash as well in order to seal the 5-ODI series. This is the first time that England have won an ODI series against the Kangaroos in Australia since 1975.
Winning the toss Australia elected to bowl first. England registered a big total of 302 runs losing 6 wickets in the 1st innings.
An unbroken 7th wicket partnership of 113 runs saw Jos Buttler smash his 5th ODI ton, while Chris Woakes picked up a half-century.
Before this partnership, England were suffering at 189 losing 6 wickets. Their skipper – Eoin Morgan’s innings of 41 and the opener – Jonny Bairstow’s 39-run knock were the only two performances worth talking about. Together Bairstow and Woakes faced 71 balls to register those 113 runs.
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Josh Hazlewood bagged two wickets, while Marcus Stoinis, Pat Cummins, Adam Zampa and Mitchell Marsh got one wicket apiece.
Australia lost their destructive opener – David Warner early scoring 8 runs, as his wicket was taken by Woakes. The next batsman – Cameron White made 17 runs before leaving the pitch as he got dismissed by Mark Wood.
Another opener Aaron Finch clubbed 62 runs before Adil Rashid trapped him lbw. Rashid got the wicket of another half-centurion Mitchell Marsh as well. Marsh got dismissed scoring 55 runs.
Australian captain – Steve Smith made 45 runs before Wood picked up his wicket. The batsman at no. 6, Marcus Stoinis also picked up a half-century and posted 56 runs before getting out by Woakes.
Tim Paine remained unbeaten on 31 but failed to reach the target, as England exhibited a dominating performance despite being put under pressure on several occasions.
Australian innings stopped at 286 in 50 overs, as England got their series-clinching victory. The next two dead rubber matches of this series will take place on 26th and 28th January.