- Australians won ODI decider in five-game series
- The referees were not very impressed with the English behaviour.
Cricket icon Ricky Ponting has hit out at England for using an underhanded tactic in a failed attempt to throw Australia off their game in the teams’ decisive one-day clash on Sunday.
The former Test captain criticized the home team for wasting time when they lost to the old enemy in Bristol.
With the match shortened due to a rain delay, the Australians needed to bat for 20 overs to secure a result, and England did their best to delay the game in the hope that more rain would wash it away.
With just over two overs left to bowl, England’s Matthew Potts asked for new boots and the minutes ticked by as a substitute fielder found him some shoes.
The match referees were not impressed, nor were the commentary team.
‘The referee looks at him (Potts) with some displeasure. “This is nonsense,” commentator Geoff Lemon said on BBC coverage.
“We’ve seen this movie before,” Ponting interjected.
‘This is getting more fun by the minute. We can see that there is no problem with the trunk.
The umpires were not very impressed when England’s Matthew Potts (kneeling, right) made a dubious request with the ODI decider on the line in Bristol.
Australian cricket legend Ricky Ponting (pictured in England during the series) criticized the home team for the obvious time-wasting tactic.
However, the sneak tactic did England no good.
Player of the series Travis Head also made valuable runs as Australia won their race against bad weather and prevailed by 49 runs using the DLS method.
Head, who began the series with a glorious ton, ended it with some surprisingly masterful bowling, taking 4-28 in 6.2 overs, before his quickfire 31, allied to a record-breaking half-century from Matt Short, sealed the deal. before the flood came.
Following England’s formidable 309, attention turned to whether Australia could score enough in their first 20 overs to get ahead in the DLS.
They did just that, racing to 1-103 in the first 10-over powerplay before finishing at 2-165: it turned out to be perfect timing, with heavy rain starting at just the right time, just four balls after the 20-over mark.
Travis Head (pictured left) made another valuable contribution to the Australian victory by receiving the player of the series award.
Steve Smith was ranked 36th alongside Josh Inglis (28th), and Australia were able to prevail after three weeks of testing plagued by injury and illness.
The last was Marsh’s sore back, but former Test captain Smith proved the safest pair of hands as a replacement from the moment he won a big toss and inserted England into ideal conditions.
However, he had to overcome a headache as England responded with a brutal early attack, star Adam Zampa being hit for six sixes by England captain Harry Brook as Ben Duckett raced towards a brilliant hundred.
But by mixing and matching eight different bowlers, Smith’s part-time spinners worked wonders as England sank from 2-202 just before the halfway mark, with 400 an apparent possibility, to 309 in 49.2 overs. .
