Australia, on the other hand, will admit secretly that they got out of jail. They now have a full-strength squad as well, assuming that players have recovered from illnesses, so cannot give any excuses. They will be looking to put their best foot forward come Tuesday, 24th September, 2024 and win the third ODI, sealing the series, so that they can rotate their players for the remaining 2 matches. That is a day-night game, with the first ball scheduled to be bowled at 11.30 am GMT. Our build-up will begin well in advance, so do make sure to tune in. Until then, keep browsing our tabs for all the action from Caribbean Premier League, SL-NZ, Ind-Ban, AFG-SA and even the Legends League Of Cricket. ADIOS! TAKE CARE!

Opportunity missed by England? Or experience worth its weight in gold for Australia? Views might differ from person to person. Irrespective of the experience of Australia, England simply should not have allowed the visitors to cross 240 and while batting, given that the required rate never went up to even 7, maybe a couple of soft dismissals could have been avoided - like Smith and Livingstone. But that is why these games are for, to learn and build on their learnings. England bowled way better than the first ODI, so that is a big positive. 

Victorious Australian captain, MITCHELL MARSH, says that these days 270 always feels a little bit short. Adds that it felt like a new-ball wicket and early wickets could give them a chance. At the halfway mark, he admits that 270 looked enough but he wanted more. On not able to play out their 50 overs, Marsh credits Carey for taking it deep and adds that these days, batters keep on looking to score, rather than play till the end. Overall, is happy with his team's all-round display. On Australia's experience weighed up against England's inexperience, Marsh puts it down to a challenge to playing in English conditions and how can his side keep improving.  

England's skipper, HARRY BROOK, says that England bowled nicely to restrict Australia to 270. Puts the loss to early wickets in the batting Powerplay for England. Admits that last-wicket partnerships are frustrating but adds that he does not think he could have done anything differently during that stand. Agrees that his side is so inexperienced that Adil Rashid is their leading run getter in ODIs from this squad! But laughs and says that they need to learn from these games, take the positives and move ahead, sticking to their plans - attacking the bowlers while batting and taking wickets with the ball.

ALEX CAREY HAS BEEN NAMED AS THE PLAYER OF THE MATCH, for his match-winning 74 and a couple of catches. Carey says that it was a quiet winter for him and adds that he spent his rest time with his family. Adds that he used to spend time indoors, working on his game. Praises England for bowling really well and has an extra word for Josh Hazlewood for hanging in with him in that last-wicket partnership. Praises all the Aussie quicks for bowling consistently well and is impressed by Aaron Hardie. On losing his spot to Josh Inglis in T20Is, Carey calls him an exciting youngster and wishes him a good future.

... THE PRESENTATION ...

Earlier in the day, England came back strongly after a decent start by Australia to have them on the ropes at 221/9 but an unlikely 49-run stand between Carey and Hazlewood took the game away from them. They were excellent with the ball throughout but perhaps took their foot off the pedal during that 10th-wicket stand and Australia pounced. It was not the best of batting effort by the Aussies, but they used their experience to forge partnerships after multiple collapses. Please stay tuned for the presentation.

We did feel at the start of the run chase that this was a Josh Hazlewood pitch. It might have been, had Matthew Short taken that catch in his first over to get rid of Phil Salt. Instead, what happened was barring Hazlewood, everyone else bowled well. Starc did not start well but got into rhythm with his swinging deliveries with the new balls and then Aaron Hardie continued his rise in Australian cricket by using the heavy ball. To ensure that Australia were not reliant on pace. Glenn Maxwell proved to be an able ally to Adam Zampa in the spin department, with combined figures of 14-1-57-3. The bowlers knew perfectly well how to use the cross-seam ball, wobbly-seam ball and had excellent changes of pace to keep England guessing throughout. The fact that they allowed only one half century stand shows that they did not allow the game to drift.

That 49-run last-wicket stand between Alex Carey and Josh Hazlewood eventually proved to be the difference in this game. Because if that had not happened, England would have been chasing well under 250. Unlike Australia, England could never really get going on this deck, which seemed to get slower by the day, with cross-seam deliveries and cutters helping the bowlers. Australia ran riot with the new balls and had England 5 down inside Powerplay 1. England then tried to show some rearguard action through their middle order but with the pitch slowing down and Australia sizing up the pitch perfectly, even after getting set, they struggled to make it big. Only Jamie Smith could cross 40 in a unit which had as many as 5 starters, including Adil Rashid's 27.

It was an intriguing pitch on offer, which seemed like a flat deck, with a tinge of grass. In fact, at the toss, Brook reckoned that there might be a bit of movement early on with the new ball and after that, as per tradition, the deck could become a batting paradise. He was correct in terms of the movement assessment but what he could not assess was the dryness in the wicket. That dryness made the balls come slowly from the pitch, which induced quite a few false shots from both sides' batters.

A 100-overs contest reduced to 85 overs with 472 runs being scored. Despite 15 overs being unused, all 20 wickets fell, which shows how difficult batting was on this wicket. The result shows that Australia have won by a comfortable margin, but Harry Brook might just look back at a few things, including his decision at the toss, when he dissects this match.

Back to pace? Mitchell Starc brought back to wrap things up. 9-0-50-2 so far.

Olly Stone is the last man in, replacing Adil Rashid.