Aaron Finch struck his second 50-over ton as Australia maintained their dominance over England with a six-wicket victory in their first one-day international yesterday.
Finch (121) and fellow opener David Warner (65) dazzled, while captain Michael Clarke contributed 43 brisk runs as the hosts eased to a victory target of 270 with 4.2 overs to spare in Melbourne, Australia.
Earlier, half-centuries from Gary Ballance (79) and Eoin Morgan (50) helped England put behind a wobbly start and post 269 for seven wickets after captain Alastair Cook opted to bat first.
The 163-run stand between Finch and Warner in 28 overs laid the foundation for Australia’s comprehensive win, which prolonged England’s misery Down Under after their Test series whitewash.
Australia’s openers enjoyed their share of luck, with Finch dropped by Ballance on eight and Warner called back from the boundary line on 22 after replays could not establish conclusively if Jos Buttler had a clean catch behind the stumps.
Warner eventually holed out in the deep off Joe Root to depart after a 72-ball knock that included five boundaries and a six off Chris Jordan.
Jordan dismissed Shane Watson for a two-ball duck in the next over, but Clarke and Finch scored freely to kill the contest.
Balance eventually caught Finch in the 40th over off Ben Stokes, putting an end to his 128-ball blitz.
England suffered an early blow when Cook edged the fourth ball of the day to perish caught behind for four.
Clint McKay (3-44) claimed his second victim in Root (three) to reduce the tourists to 22 for two, before Ian Bell and Ballance steadied the ship.
Morgan joined Ballance in the middle for England’s most productive partnership, adding 83 runs from 14.1 overs.
Maxwell dismissed Morgan for 50 off 47 balls, as Ballance fell in the 46th over, having justified his call-up with his maiden ODI fifty.
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and partner Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia yesterday advanced to the women’s doubles final at the Australian Open after defeating New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-3 in their semi-final. Hsieh has won nine Grand Slam doubles titles and has a shot at a 10th tomorrow, when the Latvian-Taiwanese duo are to play Taylor Townsend of the US and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in the championship match at the A$96.5 million (US$61 million) outdoor hard court tournament at Melbourne Park. Townsend and Siniakova eliminated Russian pair Diana Shnaider and Mirra Andreeva 6-7
Manchester City have reached do-or-die territory in the UEFA Champions League earlier than expected ahead of what Pep Guardiola has described as a “final” against Club Brugge today. City have disproved the suggestion a new format to Europe’s top club competition would remove any jeopardy for the top clubs as Guardiola stares down the barrel of failing to make the Champions League knockout stages for the first time in his career. The English champions have endured a torrid season both in their English Premier League title defense and on the continent. A run of one win in 13 games, which included Champions League
FINAL WEEK LOOMS: PSG rose to 22nd place to set up another tense challenge against 24th-placed Stuttgart, while Man City require victory against Club Brugge Manchester City are on the brink of a humiliating UEFA Champions League exit after a stunning loss to Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday, while Real Madrid is no longer at risk after routing Salzburg. Man City blew a two-goal lead in a high-stakes clash of super-wealthy underachievers that PSG won 4-2 in Paris, who could still be eliminated alongside the English champions after the final round of games next week. Only the top 24 in the 36-team standings are to advance. Man City, the 2023 champions, are in 25th place, but could squeeze into the knockout playoffs round by beating Club Brugge. “We will
Things are somewhat out of control at the Australian Open this year, and that has only a little to do with the results on the courts. Yes, there were some upsets, including Madison Keys eliminating No. 2 Iga Swiatek in the women’s singles semi-finals on Thursday. It also was the first time since 1990 that three teenagers beat top-10 men’s seeds at a Grand Slam tennis tournament. The loser of one of those matches, Daniil Medvedev, got fined US$76,000 for behaving badly. Last year’s women’s singles runner-up exited in the first round. However, the real fuss is happening elsewhere. The rowdy fans, for one
RSS