Eoin Morgan led England to a three-wicket victory in the fourth ODI at Headingley, where they levelled the series 2-2 and ensured the final match at Old Trafford on Sunday will be the decider. It was, in the end, a near perfectly-judged run chase. England needed 300 – that’s exactly a run a ball in 50 overs, and Morgan showed his team-mates how to pace the pursuit, with 92 off 92 balls himself.
They got there with ten balls to spare, but not without some high drama along the way, including a pair of spectacular catches from Glenn Maxwell that threatened to bring Australia back into the contest. But England’s nerve held, and fittingly David Willey clubbed the winning six down the ground off John Hastings to complete a fine day that began with him claiming three wickets in the first ten overs of the morning.
Earlier, Glenn Maxwell and George Bailey gave Australia the perfect platform for a total in the mid-300s, but in the end they were lucky to so much as set England an even 300 for victory. Wickets either side of the Maxwell-Bailey stand cost Australia badly and it was only through a late blast from Matthew Wade and John Hastings, who clubbed 77 in the final six overs, that the total was boosted to 299 for 7.
For all the swings and roundabouts of the innings they probably ended up with near enough to a par score. David Willey had struck three early blows to put England firmly on top, before Maxwell and Bailey combined for a 137-run partnership that made a hefty total look likely, but then wickets from Moeen Ali and Liam Plunkett turned the match back England’s way.
It looked like being an occasion where the Manhattan batting graph actually bore some resemblance to New York City, with all the tallest towers concentrated in the middle after a Staten Island-like first ten overs. But Wade and Hastings provided some important late skyscrapers; Wade struck three sixes in a 26-ball 50 not out, and Hastings hit two sixes in his unbeaten 34 off 26 balls.
England’s fast men struggled to find the yorker length towards the end, and no wickets fell after debutant Marcus Stoinis limply reverse-swept Moeen to short third man for 4 in the 42nd over. At that stage Australia were listing at 215 for 7, having just lost Bailey for a composed 75, when he delivered a return catch to Plunkett.
Bailey had looked like being the key for Australia after the departure of Maxwell, who smashed 85 from 64 balls, including two consecutive sixes. One of those sixes, clubbed over midwicket off an Adil Rashid full toss, brought Maxwell his half-century from his 42nd ball, and he sent the next one over the boundary in the same direction, in an over that cost Rashid 17 runs.
Rashid struggled to find his rhythm, in stark contrast to Moeen, who adjusted his length well when the Australians used their feet and finished with 2 for 40 off his 10 overs. It was Moeen who broke the partnership when he sneaked one under the bat of Maxwell, who was trying one of his trademark reverse sweeps and was bowled.
Bailey had been the quieter partner, finding the gaps and rotating the strike, and his fifty came from his 64th delivery. He also cleared the boundary, with a thump back down the ground off Rashid, but once Maxwell was gone the air went out of Australia’s innings, more so when Mitchell Marsh holed out for 17 without having managed a single boundary.
England seemed like they were back in the game again, having already dominated the early stages when Willey, included for his first match of the series, found his usual swing. He had Joe Burns chopping on for 2 in the third over and a better delivery accounted for Steven Smith, who on 5 found himself trapped plumb by a near yorker. Willey then added Aaron Finch (15), who edged behind a delivery angled across him.
Australia
JA Burns b Willey 2
AJ Finch c †Bairstow b Willey 15
SPD Smith* lbw b Willey 5
GJ Bailey c & b Plunkett 75
GJ Maxwell b Ali 85
MR Marsh c Willey b Plunkett 17
MS Wade† not out 50
MP Stoinis c Rashid b Ali 4
JW Hastings not out 34
Extras (lb 8, w 3, nb 1) 12
Total (7 wickets; 50 overs) 299
Did not batPJ Cummins, JL Pattinson
Fall of wickets 1-14 (Burns, 2.5 ov), 2-25 (Smith, 6.2 ov), 3-30 (Finch, 8.3 ov), 4-167 (Maxwell, 29.4 ov), 5-210 (Marsh, 40.1 ov), 6-210 (Bailey, 40.3 ov), 7-215 (Stoinis, 41.4 ov)
Bowling
DJ Willey 8-0-51-3, MA Wood 9-0-65-0, LE Plunkett 8-0-47-2, BA Stokes 5-0-25-0, AU Rashid 10-0-63-0, MM Ali 10-0-40-2
England
JJ Roy c Finch b Cummins 36
AD Hales lbw b Cummins 0
JWA Taylor c †Wade b Marsh 41
EJG Morgan* c Maxwell b Cummins 92
BA Stokes b Marsh 41
JM Bairstow† c †Wade b Maxwell 31
MM Ali not out 21
LE Plunkett c Maxwell b Cummins 17
DJ Willey not out 12
Extras (lb 3, w 8, nb 2) 13
Total (7 wickets; 48.2 overs) 304
Did not batAU Rashid, MA Wood
Fall of wickets 1-1 (Hales, 1.2 ov), 2-73 (Roy, 10.1 ov), 3-89 (Taylor, 15.4 ov), 4-180 (Stokes, 33.3 ov), 5-238 (Morgan, 39.4 ov), 6-261 (Bairstow, 42.4 ov), 7-282 (Plunkett, 45.1 ov)
Bowling
JL Pattinson 9-0-73-0, PJ Cummins 10-0-49-4, JW Hastings 6.2-0-56-0, MR Marsh 9-0-52-2, GJ Maxwell 10-0-54-1, MP Stoinis 4-0-17-0
MATCH DETAILS
Toss – Australia, who chose to bat
Series – 5-match series level 2-2
ODI debut – MP Stoinis (Australia)
Player of the match – EJG Morgan (England)
Umpires – HDPK Dharmasena (Sri Lanka) and MA Gough
TV umpire – JS Wilson (West Indies)
Match referee – JJ Crowe (New Zealand)
Reserve umpire – RA Kettleborough