Australia had slipped to 123 for 5 in the 24th over when Glenn Maxwell (77) and Mitchell Marsh (73) got together, and their partnership lasted until the 44th over as they relaid the platform and set Australia up for a good finish. However, fine bowling in the death by Jofra Archer and Mark Wood, who both finished with three wickets apiece, kept Australia to a total of 294 for 9, with only 35 runs coming in the last five overs.

With Australia in deep trouble, Morgan went for the kill as he employed Adil Rashid and Jofra Archer in tandem. But Marsh and Maxwell kept them at bay, with the latter even putting away a short ball from the legspinner for the first six of the innings to help Australia past 150 in the 30th over. Maxwell also didn’t allow Moeen Ali to settle down, driving and reverse-sweeping the spinner for boundaries. Marsh, who was the more sedate of the two – scoring occasional fours and focusing on rotating the strike – got to his fifty off 75 balls. Maxwell, on the other hand, got to the half-century mark in only 43 deliveries, scoring his second six off Rashid en route, as Australia reached 218 at the end of the 40th over.

Having already scored 65 off 56 deliveries, Maxwell shifted into a higher gear when he struck two successive maximums off Archer. But the bowler came back well, getting Maxwell to drag back a knuckle ball on to the stumps to end an excellent innings. Pat Cummins followed soon after, becoming Archer’s third scalp. Wood bagged his third by sending Marsh leg-before while Woakes finally managed a wicket in the last over, although he was struck for a six by Mitchell Starc off the last ball.

Earlier, with movement on offer, both in the air and off the pitch, David Warner’s stay at the crease wasn’t a comfortable one after England opted to bowl. He played and missed a couple of times before an Archer delivery, that pitched on middle and moved away late, proved too much to handle for the left-hander, who was bowled for six. With Steve Smith being rested as a precautionary measure after copping a blow to his head during practice, Marcus Stoinis walked out at No. 3 and he started off well by driving on either side of the wicket and also ran hard between the wickets.

Aaron Finch was settling into a partnership with Stoinis when Wood struck off his first ball to send back the Australia skipper, whose lack of footwork resulted in an edge to the ‘keeper. Finch’s dismissal, though, did not deter Stoinis who struck three fours off Wood in the 12th over, cutting and pulling with authority, and was also not afraid to go aerial against Moeen. However, his innings was cut short on 43 when he tried to drive Wood on the up and ended up becoming the bowler’s second victim.

England’s bowlers had done a good job of preventing any substantial partnership from Australia’s top-order batsmen, and the trend continued as Rashid trapped Marnus Labuschagne with a googly. Alex Carey also fell to the legspinner, with the sweep shot bringing about his downfall, as Australia lost half their side before Maxwell and Marsh resurrected the innings, but England hit back in the death.

Brief scores: Australia 294/9 in 50 overs (Glenn Maxwell 77, Mitchell Marsh 73; Mark Wood 3-54, Jofra Archer 3-57) vs England.

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