Key takeaways from the England vs Australia ODI series
What's the story
Australia stunned world champions England in the third ODI to seal the series by a 2-1 margin. Match-winning centuries from Glenn Maxwell and Alex Carey saw the Aussies chase down a target of 303. This was a massive win for Aaron Finch-led Australia, who had earlier lost the T20Is. Here we present the list of key takeaways.
Maxwell
Glenn Maxwell the new finisher in town for Australia
Maxwell made his presence felt in the ODI series at number seven. He is being backed as the finisher and the ploy has worked. Maxwell scored a fluent 77 in the first encounter to bail the Aussies out. And then in the third ODI, the all-rounder smashed a ton. Once again, he was involved in a match-winning partnership and helped Australia repair their innings.
Batting
Struggles witnessed with the bat in three successive ODIs
Both teams struggled with the bat to lose wickets at regular intervals. In the first ODI, Australia were 123/5 and England were reduced to 57/4. The trend continued in the second encounter. England were 149/8 at one stage and Australia folded for 207. In the third ODI, England were 96/4, with the Aussies losing five wickets for just 73.
Duo
Bairstow and Billings impress for England
Jonny Bairstow needed some runs under his belt after battling poor form of late. The opener responded with scores of 84, 0 and 112. That helped England going from one end. Meanwhile, middle order batsman Sam Billings showed his mettle. He struck 118 in the opener and a valuable 57 in the decider. England will take the positives out and these two chipped in.
Zampa
Adam Zampa shows consistency with the ball
Australian spinner Adam Zampa showed a lot of consistency and is the side's premier option in this department in limited-overs cricket. He claimed figures of 4/55, 3/36 and 3/51 to finish with 10 scalps. He was the biggest positive for the Aussies and this will please the management.