PERTH, Feb 1:
An all-round show by Glenn Maxwell and a devastating pace-bowling spell by Mitchell Johnson helped Australia crush England by 112 runs in a lopsided summit clash to clinch the cricket tri-series title here today.
Maxwell revived the Australian innings from a precarious 60 for 4 with a brilliant 98-ball 95 to take his side to 278 for 8 after being put into bat and then grabbed four wickets for 46 runs to annihilate England in their run chase in tandem with Johnson (3/27) at the WACA ground.
Johnson extracted the bounce offered by the lively pitch as he took three wickets in the space of 10 deliveries, including two in two balls, to rock the England run chase early on. England never recovered from the early jolt and were all out for just 166 in 39.1 overs to lose the final match without any fight.
Ravi Bopara top-scored for England with a 59-ball 33 as the visiting side crumbled under some impressive bowling by the Australians. Opener Moeen Ali and Joe Root contributed 26 and 25 respectively at the top-order while Stuart Broad scored 24 down the order as England suffered a humiliating defeat.
Australia will now go into the upcoming World Cup at home with more confidence as they wrapped up their preparations on a high by winning the three-team tournament which also featured India.
England were sent into the backfoot soon after the start of their run chase of 279 with new-ball bowler Josh Hazlewood (2/13) drawing first blood by dismissing in-form opener Ian Bell (8) caught behind in the fourth over itself.
Johnson then turned on the heat to send James Taylor (4) back to the pavilion with Maxwell taking a low catch at backward point.
The left-arm pacer then got the dangerous Ali with a snorter as the opener was caught behind and next ball, captain Eoin Morgan went for a first-ball duck to give Johnson a chance to grab a hat-trick. But Bopara left Johnson’s next delivery alone to deny the pacer a hat-trick.
From 46/4, England really had no chance especially as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Root was trapped LBW by James Faulkner (1/11) who walked off with a possible side-strain in the 24th over.
Then Maxwell came on to slip in two wickets quickly, removing Jos Buttler (17) and Chris Woakes (0) off successive deliveries in the 25th over.
Bopara, who faced 59 deliveries and hit one four in his 33, and Stuart Broad played together for a bit, adding 32 runs for the eighth wicket, the most fruitful partnership of the innings for England.
But they were never in with a shot to chase down the target, and the end came swiftly after Maxwell sent back Bopara in the 39th over. Hazlewood then bowled Steve Finn (6) to end the match.
Earlier, Maxwell scored 95 runs (98 balls, 15 fours) and James Faulkner smashed a 24-ball unbeaten 50, studded with four boundaries and four sixes, in the death overs to power Australia to 278 for eight.
Mitchell Marsh chipped in with 60 runs (68 balls, 7×4, 1×6) as he and Maxwell rebuilt the Australian innings from 60/4 at one stage with a 151-run stand for the fifth wicket. (PTI)
Follow our WhatsApp channel