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How crucial will that 9th wicket partnership turn out to be?
Finch v Rashid
should be a very interesting battle. Rashid’s obviously got Finch out with a googly in this tour. The Australian captain, however, has made the early statement here – stepping down and golfing a ball into the stands for a six. Finch and Marnus looking to keep it busy out here.
England a little sloppy, at the moment. A no-ball because of only four players in the ring, gives Finch another boundary. Partnership building steadily. 14 overs 66/2
Finch key from here
Australia are 44/2 after 10 overs. Run-rate is not a problem, but the two wickets are. They probably have just one more over from Archer, at most two. Finch and Labuschagne can build from here.
Yes, Archer’s first spell is done. 5-0-22-2. But here comes a different challenge: Adil Rashid!
If Adil Rashid bowls as well today as he has been recently, England probably win this game. 10 overs of him in this current form is a massive factor. #ENGvAUS
05:20 PM  Sep 09, 2020
OUT! Archer gets a second
Stoinis has no answer to this snorter from Archer. Can’t get out of the way – this is 90mph. Off the handle and a simple catch for Buttler. Tasty stuff!
England are in this. Australia 37/2 after 9 overs. Marnus is the new man in
Some serious heat served up by Archer
A 91mph short ball has gone to the boundary off Finch’s helmet. Routine concussion tests will be performed. The Australian skipper is in a contest with Archer out here. Short balls are on the menu! Oooh!
OUT! Archer gets Warner again
The fourth time on this tour. Archer has Warner’s number, for sure. This is a pacy delivery angled across Warner. It’s also close to the off-stump so Warner can’t free his arms. It’s a tentative poke that is gobbled up by Buttler. The early wicket England wanted.
Australia 10/1 after 4 overs. Stoinis in at No.3
☝️ c Buttler b Archer
☝️ b Archer
☝️ c Buttler b Archer
☝️ b Archer
#ENGvAUS
04:44 PM  Sep 09, 2020
CHASE: Can Australia seal the series here?
England will need early wickets. They’ll hope Archer’s wood over Warner (dismissed thrice on this tour already) will help set the early tone.
England finish strong; Get 231 on the board
Excellent 76-run stand for the 9th wicket between Adil Rashid and Tom Curran. 53 runs in the final four overs. Have Australia let it slip a little or has the 9th wicket stand only put the top-order failure in perspective?
What do you think?
Highest 9th wicket partnership for England in ODIs:
100 Liam Plunket & Vikram Solanki v PAK, Lahore 2005
81 Jos Buttler & Adil Rashid v AUS, Manchester 2018
76 Tom Curran & Adil Rashid v AUS, Manchester 2020*
60 Tom Curran & Chris Woakes v AUS, Adelaide 2018
#ENGvAUS https://t.co/UXCoRZAFwu
04:12 PM  Sep 09, 2020
Crucial partnership ongoing
Tom Curran and Adil Rashid adding what could turn out to be very important runs here. Especially with Rashid’s leg spinners to come in the second innings. Can they fight with 200?
Woakes’s vigil ends
Pressure was building on him to do all the scoring. Tries an expansive drive off Hazlewood. Nicks off. A good 26 for him, but England are now 150/8
TWO MORE
An afternoon to forget thus far. Zampa gets a third, a nice dipping delivery gets under Billings’s bat, who was shaping to cut. Starc then takes out Sam Curran. England in all sorts of trouble now at 143/7. Risk of getting bowled out.
Woakes looking good
Has fond memories of this ground. Won a superb Test match against Pakistan earlier this summer. Where Billings is struggling for timing, Woakes has already hit three boundaries, two of them off Zampa. Another 15 overs to go. 250 will be targeted.
OUT! Zampa takes charge; Morgan departs
Another smart move. This time with the DRS call. Zampa gets one to straighten on the England captain, umpire rules it not-out, presumably expecting it to have pitched outside leg. Carey convinces Finch for the review. And sees three reds in return!
Huge wicket. Morgan’s about the only batsman to have looked comfortable today. Gone for a 52-ball 42. England 117/5 in 29 overs.
250 seems far away now. What can Woakes and Billings do from here?
OUT! Half a step front and another step back
Just when it seemed like Morgan was leading a mini counter-attack – he hit three fours off four deliveries – England have slipped behind once more. And that is down to a sharp tactical move from Finch to bring on Cummins.
Cummins zips one back into Jos Buttler and pings him in front of the stumps. Umpire rules him out immediately and Buttler takes a hopeful review. The review is retained because of Umpire’s call but his wicket isn’t.
England 107/4 in 26 overs
OUT! Zampa removes Root
Talk about instant impact. Takes three balls for Zampa to get into the game. Tosses one up, luring Root into the drive. The ball spins ever so little to take the edge and Finch takes a sharp catch at slip. Root laboured for his 39 (73) but the half-century stand has now been ended.
England 91/3 in 23 overs. Here’s Jos, the Boss!
50 Partnership
Stoinis the man with a bull’s eye on his back. Root steps down the track – partly because of the slow nature of the pitch – and swats him into the stands. The fifth bowler has now conceded 20 in 2 overs. Root and Morgan have added 50 for the third wicket. Engrossing stuff.
Finally, here’s Zampa! We’ll see if spin comes in to play here. Remember, Morgan’s asked for slow and spinning surfaces to prepare for the next 50-over World Cup in England.
#HaveYourSay What’s a winning total here?
Tweet in your opinions, analysis to @kaushik_cb. We’ll feature the best tweets on this blog.
England have scored at 4.96 runs per over while playing attacking shots in the first 20 overs in the last two ODIs – their lowest at this stage in an ODI series since the start of 2006.
#ENGvAUS
01:38 PM  Sep 09, 2020
20 overs: England 69/2
Will Root, Morgan attack the fifth bowler
That is Marcus Stoinis – in the order of introduction into the attack. Morgan goes for an authoritative pull straight away, it’s not too far away from a fielder at deep square leg, who puts in a valiant dive. But it’s a much-needed boundary. The run-rate still hovering at 3.30.
Two maidens in a row
England’s innings going no where at the moment as Mitchell Marsh and Pat Cummins bowl two maidens on the trot. In fact, England don’t score a run for 15 balls either side of the drinks break.
A Labuschagne misfield allows them some breathing space, giving Joe Root his third boundary.
Mitchell Marsh into the attack
A double change in the attack. Can England’s Test and ODI skippers get together in this rebuild.
Meanwhile, a substitute is substituted. Daniel Sams comes in, cops a blow to his hand and has to be replaced on the field by Sean Abbott.
Dividends from a new bat
Joe Root asks for a change of bat. As instant returns go , this is right up there. The first two balls have been sent to the boundary. An uppish swivel pull followed by a gorgeous drive through extra cover. From 2 off 28, Root is up to 12 off 31.
Cummins may have just released the pressure there with a loose first over.
10 overs done…
England are 32/2 with rebuilding to be done. Joe Root will have to get a move on at some point. He’s 3 off 25 right now. And time for the first bowling change of the day. Pat Cummins replaces Mitchell Starc.
Eoin Morgan is here…
And Australia have a man at leg gully for him against Starc. Watch out for his trigger movements to the legside. Planting the idea of a short ball in his head.
#ENGvAUS
12:52 PM  Sep 09, 2020
OUT! Jason Roy caught short of his crease
A superb piece of fielding by Marcus Stoinis at cover. Root taps and runs and Roy responds. Stoinis charges, picks the ball and in that fluid motion, knocks down the stumps at the striker’s end. Roy well short of his crease.
Looked good for a while there Roy, but still no good score for him. England 29/2 in the 8th over.
Meanwhile, Joe Root, who has inside one on to his knee (ouch) is under severe duress out in the middle. 2 off 18 currently, unable to put away even the occasional freebie.
During the Ashes, Joe Root spent an incessant period in the nets working on his trigger movement to combat Hazlewood’s length before deciding to completely eliminate it & employ a more minimalistic approach by staying very still at the crease like he’s trying to do now #engvaus
12:40 PM  Sep 09, 2020
OUT! Starc takes out Bairstow
A seven-ball duck for Jonny Bairstow. The England opener hasn’t faced Starc yet in this game and is playing for the one that comes in. This one angles across him. Takes the edge on the way to the keeper. England 20/1 in the fifth over.
Here’s Joe Root!
Roy breaks free against Hazlewood
The break his rhythm ploy. Roy charges the metronome and squeezes one through extra cover. Two more boundaries follow in the over, one whipped away behind square and another punched past point. Confidence building?
12:22 PM  Sep 09, 2020
Hazlewood from the other end…
Found great success on this track bowling Test match lengths two days ago. Will England play the situation or try to hit him out of his lengths?
Bairstow has a couple of wafts, gets nowhere with it and Hazlewood begins with a maiden.
Starc to start. Roy and Bairstow are out in the middle
Mitchell Starc is fully fit, Australia reckon. He was hobbling a bit and had a bit of a knee brace on. He’s straight away asking questions of the England batsman, gets one to bend back into Jason Roy and beats the batsmen for pace and and the umpire gives Roy out.
But this was not a full delivery and this is Old Trafford, a ground with good bounce on offer. Roy has those details mapped out in his head and reviews. Wickets missing comfortably.
Roy needs a score in ODI cricket…
TOSS: Nope, Smith IS NOT back
For precautionary reasons. Australia are playing an unchanged team on an unchanged pitch. They’ve lost the toss here though and Morgan wants to apply scoreboard pressure on the opposition.
The England skipper has made two changes. The Curran brothers have come in for Mark Wood and Moeen Ali!
“It’s the same wicket as the other day. It might potentially get a little bit worse this afternoon. It probably didn’t spin as much as we thought it was going to [on Friday] but if you hit the right area, there’s a bit on offer” – EOIN MORGAN
CA’S official update on Smith: “Steve passed both assessments, but we have decided to rest him as an extra precaution in line with our high level of focus on duty of care to all players”
#ENGvAUS
11:50 AM  Sep 09, 2020
Steve Smith should be back
ICYMI: Australia’s superstar batsman has cleared two concussion tests and is available for selection.
Preview – Old brand vs England’s brand of ODI cricket
Is what it was in the opening game. Australia beat England playing a brand of steady, calculated cricket that the hosts so clearly moved beyond during their ODI revolution over the last five years.
Will that prompt a rethink of strategies from Eoin Morgan in case lightning does strike twice? Our man Bharat Sundaresan discusses the concept in his preview.
Prelude – Can Australia inflict a series defeat on the World Champs?
They’ve won two on the bounce on this tour (remember the last T20I) after losing the first two. So safe to assume the Aussies have slowly shaken off their rust. They are one game away from an ODI series win. And what a win that’ll be.
England haven’t lost a bilateral ODI series at home since 2015. And who beat them then? Australia, of course.
On that note, welcome to the second ODI of the series. Strap yourself in, grab some snack and ready yourself for a ride!
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