England are still winless on their disastrous tour Down Under after Australia claimed a one-wicket win with a record one-day international run chase at the Gabba in Brisbane with James Faulkner playing a starring role.
Faulkner’s 69 not out from 47 balls, including five sixes, batting at number nine showed the hosts’ remarkable batting depth and proved the difference in heaping pain on the hapless visitors.
Australia are now 2-0 up in the five-match one-day series and have never won a series from this position going into the next match in Sydney.
More miserable for England is that for the first time this tour they went close.
Alastair Cook won the toss and chose to bat, and compiled a competitive 8-300 including an impressive 106 from Eoin Morgan. Ian Bell’s 68 at the top of the order and keeper Jos Buttler’s 49 were the other standouts.
Australia coach Darren Lehmann admitted his side were ‘outplayed throughout the whole game’ with the exception of Faulkner.
The top order didn’t fire in the chase, although Shaun Marsh reached 55 before being bowled by Joe Root and Glenn Maxwell got 54, although he’ll be disappointed to not be there at the end.
But that just paved the way for last wicket pairing Faulkner – who holds the record for the Aussie’s fastest ever one-day hundred – and Clint McKay to score the 57 needed for the win from six overs.
The young left-arm bowler made this batting lark look easy, smashing Ben Stokes for a series of sixes to get his side to within 12 runs of victory from the final over.
He just needed three balls of the last six from Tim Bresnan, all of them going for four.
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