England‘s limited-overs side, once again, made the Ashes seem like a distant memory after cruising to a four-wicket victory in the second ODI at Brisbane.
Australia‘s opener Aaron Finch scored a second consecutive ton to set the hosts up nicely after Steve Smith won the toss and elected to bat first but England’s bowlers applied the brakes towards the death overs.
The visitors endured some tense moments in a chase of 271 but their plethora of all-round talent shone through in the end as they eased to a 2-0 lead in the series.
Here, we look at the player ratings from the Gabba after another disappointing outing for the hosts.
AUSTRALIA
David Warner 6: The deputy skipper got off to a good start as he put on a 68-run opening stand with Aaron Finch. However, he failed to capitalise with an innocuous dismissal off the bowling of Moeen Ali.
Aaron Finch 9: With back-to-back ODI tons, Finch is going through a purple patch. In the process of doing so, he became the quickest Australian to 10 one-day hundreds but his dismissal sparked a late collapse as the hosts failed to kick on.
Finch continued from where he left off at Melbourne.
Steve Smith 5: The Australian skipper also got off to a decent start but he was undone by the part-time off-spin of Joe Root to be trapped plumb on the pads for just 18.
Travis Head 3: The middle-order batsman had a game to forget as he failed miserably with the bat. After being tied down by the English bowlers, he charged down the wicket to Root only to offer a simple return catch to the part-timer.
Mitchell Marsh 6: The younger of the Marsh siblings was involved in a 85-run stand with Finch for the fourth wicket. Was looking good for a fifty before being bamboozled by the turn generated by Adil Rashid and stumped by a country mile for 36.
Marcus Stoinis 4: A disappointing day for the Aussie all-rounder as he failed to click with both bat and ball. He failed to deal with Rashid’s leg-spin and was caught behind by Jos Buttler for just four before going wicketless with the ball in hand.
Cameron White 5: Came into bat at number seven surprisingly and did not have enough time to create an impact. He remained unbeaten on 15 as wickets kept tumbling around him and was not given a go with the ball on a pitch which had something for the spinners.
Alex Carey 6: A solid yet unspectacular debut for the glovesman as he replaced Tim Paine who was ruled out with an illness. Played a decent cameo of 27 towards the death overs and was reliable behind the stumps.
Mitchell Starc 8: With a relatively inexperienced Aussie bowling attack around him, Starc did the best he could to halt England’s march with four scalps in his 10 overs. His double strike in his final over of the day made it a nervy finish for the tourists.
Starc’s four wickets gave Australia a glimmer of hope.
Andrew Tye 5: The medium pacer brought his usual variations to the fore on a flat Gabba pitch but was unable to do any damage as England’s batsmen dealt with his threat fairly comfortably. Tye was unable to put pressure on the visitors and failed to pick up a wicket in an unspectacular spell.
Jhye Richardson 7: The debutant made the most of his opportunity after replacing Josh Hazlewood in the bowling attack. He removed Alex Hales and Jonny Bairstow in successive overs after the two Englishmen were threatening to make a mockery of Australia’s total.
ENGLAND
Jason Roy 3: After touching new highs with a record-breaking 180 at Melbourne, Roy had to taste the lows as he was dismissed for just two runs while trying to flick Starc on the on-side.
Alex Hales 7: Gave England the perfect start in their chase despite losing Roy early on as he combined with Bairstow for a 117-run stand for the second wicket. He was looking in complete control before dragging on Richardson’s delivery onto the stumps to become the debutant’s maiden ODI scalp.
Hales got England off to a great start in the chase.
Jonny Bairstow 7: Like Hales, Bairstow looked to be on top of the Aussie bowling from the get-go and was looking extremely fluent. He dismissal, however, was loose as he drove a fuller Richardson delivery straight to cover.
Joe Root 9: The England Test skipper showed why he is such a force to be reckoned with in the ODI format with an all-round performance. He accounted for the wickets of Smith and Head with his gentle off-spinners before guiding England home from a tricky position in the chase with his calm head.
Eoin Morgan 6: The England skipper got off to a rollicking start in his innings as he brought out the trademark flick off his pads for a six. He chopped on Starc’s delivery onto his stumps however as the tourists were put through some tense moments in the middle of their innings.
Jos Buttler 7: The swashbuckling batsman was in his element as he raced away to 42 off just 31 deliveries but there was nothing he could do to a ripper of a delivery from Starc which took an outside edge off his bat on the way to Carey.
Moeen Ali 6: It was a mixed return for the England all-rounder with his off-spin keeping Australia’s batsmen at bay. He picked up the wicket of Warner but could score only one run with the bat before being bowled by Starc.
Chris Woakes 9: Along with Root, he was the star for England with an all-round showing. Woakes was very good with the ball with figures of 1-37 and he backed it up with great fielding to help conjure up two run-outs off his own bowling. He came out with the bat to finish the job for England with an unbeaten 39 off just 27 deliveries.
Woakes was unstoppable on the day.
Adil Rashid 7: The leg-spinner went for quite a few runs early into his spell but then settled quickly to put the brakes on Australia’s scoring. He chipped in with the two wickets of Marsh and Stoinis to finish on a high.
Liam Plunkett 7: It was a typical ODI performance from the England pacer. He was difficult to get away with his tight lines and variations and sent back the centurion, Finch. He finished with 1-34 from his eight overs.
Mark Wood 5: It wasn’t the best of games for the England quick after his impressive return to action in the first ODI. Went wicketless at just over run-a-ball as Australia’s openers took a liking to his pace.
