Australia v England: 5th ODI, Adelaide

Australia:
AJ Finch, SE Marsh, SR Watson, MJ Clarke*, GJ Bailey, GJ Maxwell, MS Wade†, JP Faulkner, CJ McKay, NM Coulter-Nile, XJ Doherty

England:
AN Cook*, IR Bell, BA Stokes, JE Root, EJG Morgan, RS Bopara, JC Buttler†, TT Bresnan, SCJ Broad, CJ Jordan, JC Tredwell

Australia have won the toss and have elected to bat.

England have brought Joe Root back into the side for Gary Ballance.

Finch already dropped twice, first by Cook at 1st slip and then by Bopara in the covers.

The Australia Day curse continues.

80/4 after 23 overs.

Seems the site problems have cut down on the participation here.
Australia 181-7 in the 45th over. Faulkner and Coulter-Nile at the crease.

With Joe Root back in, where will they bat him? I think he should be batting at 4 after Stokes who played a good innings in the previous game. I would prefer Stokes to come down the order in the future, but Root has struggled in the top order, Stokes did well in the last game, Root is a better middle order player, and England already paid the price for fixing something that wasn't broken.

what happend to the forum   
overnight the originial domain expired and the entire forum migrated to forumotion.co.uk domain ?

Yeah it'll get sorted soon I imagine

Good stuff from England so far

Australia end up with 217-9 in their 50 overs. Good effort from the English bowlers, Stokes and Broad with 3 wickets each, and Jordan with 2.
Bailey held the Australian innings together with a very handy half-century, but Marsh, Maxwell and Wade failed to build on their starts. Finch couldn't take advantage of 2 reprieves he got, Watson had his 2nd duck in 2 games and Clarke was out to a rather ugly shot without scoring much.

The owners need to sort out the domain renewal - 3rd anniversary today I believe.

Don't see anything other than an England win here. The pitch couldn't be that slow and low scoring, England bowled well and Australia batted poorly.

Linebreaker wrote:The owners need to sort out the domain renewal - 3rd anniversary today I believe.

Don't see anything other than an England win here. The pitch couldn't be that slow and low scoring, England bowled well and Australia batted poorly.

there is a rule...or call it a theory...that works often...that the pace and momentum of the second inning in an ODI follows the shape of the first inning

Let's hope so, mate.   

I've seen that happen a few times but have a feeling England should get home in a canter.

Bell gone, and its Stokes and not Root at 3. England 23-1 after 6.

Bizarre match so far.

I don't know what the groundsman has done... Taylor was talking about a 300 run par score (before the start) but on ABC they were mentioning 240-250 runs would be a good score on this wicket (towards the end of the Aussie innings of course)

Pretty sure they have scored more freely in the BB. It has been very hot in Adelaide and maybe they put too much water on the block in the lead-up to this match?

Linebreaker wrote:Bizarre match so far.

I don't know what the groundsman has done... Taylor was talking about a 300 run par score (before the start) but on ABC they were mentioning 240-250 runs would be a good score on this wicket (towards the end of the Aussie innings of course)

Pretty sure they have scored more freely in the BB. It has been very hot in Adelaide and maybe they put too much water on the block in the lead-up to this match?

Its not bad to see a track where the batsmen have to earn the runs.......

England 46-2 after 13. Cook and Root at the crease.

No, it's fine by me, msp.

Would have been more interesting if this match was the decider. I still can't believe that win in Brisbane. That looked gone for all money until Faulkner changed things.

AO Men's Final starting soon. Good luck to both Wawrinka and Nadal. I hope it goes to 4 sets.

Linebreaker wrote:No, it's fine by me, msp.

Would have been more interesting if this match was the decider. I still can't believe that win in Brisbane. That looked gone for all money until Faulkner changed things.

AO Men's Final starting soon. Good luck to both Wawrinka and Nadal. I hope it goes to 4 sets.

Faulkner's effort at the end could yet prove decisive today as well. Cook and Root are looking good at the moment though.
England 63-2 after 17.

Morning / evening folks,

England looking reasonably in control at 72/2 off 18 as they chase 218.

Mind you, a couple more wickets before we get half way towards that target would give the game a different complexion ....

I am still to be convinced that Joe Root is of international standard for ODI's.

111/3 off 29.

England more than half way there, just about up with the rate and wickets in hand. Root batting sensibly and so far leading the way in an understated way.

Not over yet but ours to win or lose from here ....

Good to see the forum back up and running again.

msp83 wrote:Good to see the forum back up and running again.

Yes, I had to reverse the charges earlier and put it on Biltong's account!   

A suggestion from the Sky commentators is for Clarke to give himself a bowl. I think that's a good idea and worth a try ....

Root has batted well so far. Morgan has found a way to score quickly on this track. Australia would want his wicket before he inflicts any more damage. But if Morgan could stay for another 6-7 overs in the company of Root, then it'll be difficult for the Australians.

You would indeed fancy the chase from here. Don't have to do anything dramatic , just push singles and stay in...

But I have seen teams self destruct from this sort of situation before. The slow pace of the game seems to spook batsmen sometimes and after a quiet few overs they take unnecessary risks. Morgan clearly doesn't want to get tied down , couple of nice lofts down the ground to keep the score moving. Now Root hits out...131/3

msp83 wrote:Root has batted well so far. Morgan has found a way to score quickly on this track. Australia would want his wicket before he inflicts any more damage. But if Morgan could stay for another 6-7 overs in the company of Root, then it'll be difficult for the Australians.

Yes, Australia need those remaining 7 wickets and the longer that Morgan is at the wicket, the less time they have to get them.

Root to fifty with a six   

Nice to see him making runs again.

Nachos Jones wrote:I am still to be convinced that Joe Root is of international standard for ODI's.

Now you see I'm the opposite. I'm more convinced of him in ODI's than I am in Tests

A much needed and well constructed half-century for Joe Root.

Olly wrote:

Nachos Jones wrote:I am still to be convinced that Joe Root is of international standard for ODI's.

Now you see I'm the opposite. I'm more convinced of him in ODI's than I am in Tests

Really, I am far more confident of his abilities in tests than ODI's. I just don't think that he has the ability to go through the gears in ODI's. He is proving me wrong now by hitting out but too me he is more a test player.

To be fair to Root he is only a year or so into his international career. He has played some good hands in both Tests and limited overs games ; and he has - recently - had a run of outs. Hopefully this is a sign he is coming back from that.
Bit early to pigeonhole him , I think. But I reckon he shows considerable potential at both.

A well timed 50 from Root. He's batted in accordance with the requirements of the match and complemented Morgan well.

Root's obviously not the finished article but there's more than enough talent there (including reading of the game and the ability to bat in partnership) to view his future positively, both in Tests and ODIs.

Blasted power play strikes again ! Morgan rather unnecessarily out driving in the air...

Were cruising home ; now some more work to do.

4th wicket - Morgan - goes.

If that had been Australia's 4th with them chasing, we would think it was too late.

With England batting, nerves arrive - at least for some of us!   

Hope England won't press the panic button, this is their game to lose, all that is needed is sensible batting.

On Joe Root as an ODI player.
I think he's a very very good ODI player. His game is based on a steady flow of 1s and 2s, he's a decent runner between the wicket, and he can get the boundary now and then without taking risk, and if really needed, he can go over the top as well. He's not a power hitter, but he could be a very handy addition to the likes of Morgan and Buttler in that middle order.
His recent form before this innings is a different issue altogether. Just keep him in the middle order, he'll deliver more often than not.

On this tour , England fans will have nerves until any game is completely won !
Still on top ; but another five overs of Morgan would have just about sealed it. Now they have time to go wrong...

...and as I type , Root gets himself out .

Making it hard for themselves. Again...

My goodness. Faulkner is at it again!. He gets Root, Bopara hasn't got going yet, now the RR is going up and England are losing wickets. Can they mess this up?

That wicket is a direct result of Bopara coming in and failing to rotate the strike.

In a spot of bother now

Root looks a better ODI player than Ballance. Plus he bowls , and is a better fielder by far.
But when (if ?) KP returns he may have to fight for a spot.

Would be nice if Bopara picked today to get some runs ?

Pathetic batting by Bopara so far

Bizarre innings from Ravi Bopara. 2 of 16, he's heaping pressure on his batting partner.
No need to do anything rash, including blocking out for ever.

Only Bopara can make things look difficult in a seemingly good position.

Nasser Hussain referred earlier to Bopara's batting in this series being ''dopey''.

Bopara getting out at this stage would be seriously problematic for England. But the way he's batting him staying there could also be quite problematic. Buttler somehow will have to keep him away from the strike!.

msp83 wrote:My goodness. Faulkner is at it again!. He gets Root, Bopara hasn't got going yet, now the RR is going up and England are losing wickets. Can they mess this up?

Of course they could. It isn't that easy for a new batsman to get moving , and even a modest five per over still has to be scored. Suppose that is why Morgan took on the shot over mid off , wanted to get well in front of the rate. Unfortunately Root rather threw his wicket away...now these two have a bit to do.

Five overs : Eleven runs , two wickets ...wretched power play !

And as soon as the power play is over , the score starts to move again...

But the wicket of Buttler leaves this match very much in the balance.

26 to win off 5 overs with 4 wickets left.

Once more, England's to win or lose. Think we'll be ok.

Valuable strike from Bresnan. That should provide some calm.