Mark Wood is man for big occasion - What we learned from England's win over Australia

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MORGAN HELPED IN OVERCOMING EARLY JITTERS

England bowlers did a good job of restricting the Australians to 277 but their chase soon got into trouble when they lost openers Jason Roy and Alex Hales as well as star batsman Joe Root with just 35 runs on the board. But Eoin Morgan was unperturbed by the situation and refused to buckle under pressure. The England captain straightaway decided to go after the Aussie bowling – smashing three fours off Josh Hazlewood’s second over. The dismissal of Root or the first rain break did not have any effect on Morgan as he continued his swashbuckling ways – crunching two fours on the trot in the first over bowled by Mitchell Starc after the resumption. Morgan’s assault completely caught the Aussies off-guard as they could not stem the flow of runs. It also allowed Ben Stokes, who struggled initially, to settle in and grow in confidence. But once Stokes creamed two back-to-back fours off Pat Cummins, Australia’s goose was cooked. It was carnage thereafter as both batsmen regaled the home fans with their strokeplay. Although Stokes went on log his third ODI hundred, Morgan’s role in turning a precarious situation into an advantageous one for England was equally remarkable.

AUSTRALIA LOST IT WITH THE BALL
Australia could have put on a far improved batting display but it was not there where they lost the game. It was their bowlers who let them down especially after making early inroads into the England innings. When Eoin Morgan counter-attacked they were taken aback and appeared clueless in dealing with the situation. The wicket-taking balls which were in abundance in their first three overs were then few and far in between. Instead they played into the hands of Morgan and Stokes by either pitching it short or bowling too full, which was duly cashed in on by the rampaging England duo.

If only Australia had done their homework well they would have managed to take control. They just had to take a look at how the New Zealand bowlers had limited the damage with slow bouncers and slower balls. But at Edgbaston they did not try anything different to stop the English offensive and that’s where they lost it. The fielding was also not up to the mark and the fact they spilled a couple of catches added insult to injury. Agreed, Australia were hard done by the weather as two of their matches were rained off but when it mattered they were found wanting, costing them a Champions Trophy semi-final spot.

RASHID MADE SMITH AND CO LOOK LIKE NOVICES
The Australians are not bad players of spin bowling but the manner in which they shaped up to Adil Rashid was farcical to say the least. It was largely caused by Rashid’s brilliance as the England leg-spinner varied his pace superbly and churned out plenty of googlies to dent the Aussie innings.
No Australian batsman could read him properly and he did not concede any boundaries in his 10 overs.

The 29-year-old bowled the most to Smith (18 balls) with the Australian captain managing just 11 singles and one two off him. Right from the time he was introduced in the 18th over, Rashid cast a spell on the Aussie batting and bowled 28 dot balls as well. He was the most effective in the final Powerplay – claiming three wickets in three overs and conceding just 15 runs before finishing with figures of 10-1-41-4.

WOOD’S PROFICIENCY TO HIT ‘BIG’ TARGETS ADMIRABLE
The last two wickets Mark Wood had taken before Saturday’s game tells you something about the bowler. Hashim Amla and Kane Williamson were the scalps Wood claimed, indicating his knack of picking up big wickets. Williamson’s dismissal in England’s last game was decisive because the New Zealand captain was taking the match away with his batting brilliance when Wood induced an edge of his bat. Amla’s wicket, during the one-day series last month, too was crucial as it played a part in England’s big win at Leeds.

It was no different against the Australians as Wood dismissed their top batsmen David Warner, Steven Smith and Glenn Maxwell to help England wrest the initiative. The 27-year-old’s ability to consistently work up a good pace, above 140kmph, use the width of the crease prudently and hit the right areas causes discomfort to the best as he demonstrated at Edgbaston. He bowled 40 dot balls, which means he did not concede a run in nearly seven overs, before ending up with his best figures (10-1-33-4) in ODIs.

TOO MANY SOFT DISMISSALS IN AUSSIE INNINGS
Put into bat by Morgan, the Australians showed lot of intent with openers Warner, Finch and Smith scoring as a good rate. But all that lasted only in the first half of the innings. From a strong position of 136 for 1 in the 23rd over, they soon loosened the grip with a series of tame dismissals. The first to fall was Finch, who went for a big drive off Stokes’ slow leg-cutter but ended up hitting it high for Morgan to take it comfortably at cover.

It was a big blow because Finch (68 off 64 balls) was dominating the English bowling when he got out. Moises Henriques too (17 off 19 balls) was guilty of going for a big shot off a Rashid googly only to offer up a tame catch to mid-on. Smith (56 off 77 balls) committed the same mistake after he was tied down by Rashid and made his exit in the 33rd over. Expecting a quick delivery from Wood, he stood deep in his crease but the pacer sent down a relatively slower ball (136kmph) which the Aussie captain hit lamely into mid-off’s hands. With three of their top order batsmen failing to capitalise on good starts, Australia struggled to put up a big score on the board.

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