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AUS v ENG ODI Match Report
Australia v England
One Day International – Geelong Grammar School
England 278 for 6 off 50 overs; Australia 180 all out from 42.5 overs.
England win by 98 runs.
On another bright sunny day at Geelong Grammar, Kym Daley won the toss at the Bath Oval and surprisingly decided to put England into bat
Taking the opportunity, England Captain Umesh Valjee opened the innings with James Schofield and between the pair they made a steady start. By the first drinks break England had moved to 49 without losing a wicket, and indeed it wasn’t until the 29 over that the Australians took a wicket, when James Schofield over-balanced and was stumped for a well constructed 50, with the total at 129, his partner, the prolific Valjee had already passed his 50, sitting on 66.
Chris Hughes joined Valjee and between them they managed to keep up the momentum before Hughes holed out at long on and was easily caught by Luke Trudgett for 21, the pair having put on a partnership of 52. The England total was now 181 for 2 in the 34th over.
Matt Everett came to join his captain but within 12 minutes he too was sent back following a straight push down the wicket by Valjee that Justin Bergin, the Australian bowler, fielded and very smartly ran out Everett as he was out of his ground. The total was 196 for 3 after 39 overs.
Paul Allen fell cheaply for 1 and Michael Weathersby perished in the pursuit of runs with an aggressive run a ball 10, however before doing so the enigmatic Valjee completed his second century in a row in this tournament, and his third in four innings on the tour.
Andrew Wood joined Valjee and the pair put together a partnership of 63 for the sixth wicket with Wood the dominant partner, scoring 42 off just 23 balls including two large sixes.
Umesh Valjee again carried his bat through the innings and finished on 125 not out, with, the Australians now wanting to see the back of him; however, he again marshalled his troops from the front in a very composed and very unique manner.
England finished with a total of 278 for 6 from the allotted 50 overs.
After the break, the Australians policy was clearly aggression from the start as they got off to a flyer.
Grant Thompson and Luke Trudgett opened up and had taken four boundaries from the first four overs in a real effort to upset the bowlers, however Daryl Sykes had Grant Thompson fending for a ball just outside the off stump and Andrew Wood, England’s glove man accepted a simple catch with Australia on 32 for 1.
Test Match Hero Ross Churchyard was next in, but his innings was short lived as Jimmy Dixon had him caught behind as he too, was fishing outside the off stump and a little knick was gratefully received.
Luke Trudgett continued with the policy of aggression as he hit some powerful strokes down and around the ground. He did, however, hit one too many as he pulled Paul Allen but was nicely caught by Matt Clinton at deep backward square, giving England their third wicket with the score on 84.
The Australians were up with the run rate at this stage as only 13 overs had been bowled, however, the three wickets lost would become a factor as the game progressed.
Three wickets turned into four three overs later and immediately following the drinks break as Daryl Sykes had Justin Bergin smartly caught as slip by Umesh Valjee – Australia now 88 for 4.
Brad Trudgett joined the Australian captain Kym Daley at the crease and the two tried to rebuild an innings that was beginning to falter. The innings fell away even further when Daley clipped a Stephen George ball round the corner and called for a single. His partner, Trudgett was left short of his ground by an excellent direct hit throw from Daryl Sykes – Australia now 114 for 5 from 24 overs.
Paul Welch joined his captain and at this stage Michael Weathersby was brought into the attack. Daley and Welch were starting to look quite comfortable as they built a partnership as they pushed the ball around. At the Australian total reached 150 Weathersby struck as he had Daley back and in front and trapped him LBW for 25, the sixth wicket gone. His replacement Matt Shenton lasted four balls as Weathersby clean bowled him in the same over – Australia now 150 for 7.
Weathersby’s third wicket came in his next over when he held on to a very sharp return catch off of the dangerous Welch as he perished for 27 – Australia now 157 for 8 from 35 overs.
James Schofield mopped up the tail when he has Skinner caught by Andrew Wood for 8 and then he bowled the last man, Andrew Park for just 5, leaving the Australians 98 runs short of the England total on 180.
Michael Weathersby’s 3 for 32 and James Schofield’s 2 for 22 were the pick of the England Bowlers.
Having now reached the final of the ODI tournament as the only unbeaten team, the confidence in the England Camp is sky high and they hope to carry that through into Thursdays’ ODI final in a repeat of this fixture, with the South African’s already out having lost both of their games.