century
Cricket

Australia defeat England by 6 wickets in first ODI, Malan scores century

Pat Cummins’ maiden match as Australia’s one-day skipper was a triumph, as the team defeated England by six wickets on Thursday at Adelaide Oval.

Cummins and Australia were brilliant in going 1-0 up in the three-match series after adding the ODI leadership to his test responsibilities following Aaron Finch’s 50-over retirement last month.

Despite a century from Dawid Malan, Australia held England to 287-9 after electing to bat first. England’s total was constantly below par.

Australia’s David Warner (86) and Travis Head (69) opened the innings with a 147-run stand, and Steve Smith (80 not out) completed the 291-4 victory with 19 balls to spare.

Smith’s innings came at a run-a-ball rate, as the star hitter capitalised on the solid foundations laid by Warner (86) and Head (69).

Cameron Green, an emerging allrounder, strengthened his case for a regular ODI position, finishing undefeated with Smith on 20.

Warner seemed to be on his way to his first international century since January 2020, but he was caught at the deep end.

He hinted last week that he would retire from Test cricket after the Ashes, but he stated last night that he intends to play as long as possible in the shorter forms.

“The aim are to win World Cups,” Warner explained. “We have a World Cup next year, then another four years later when I’ll be 41. Right now, my aim is to get to that World Cup, play as well as I can, and then proceed from there.”

Malan had already responded to missing England’s T20 World Cup final victory by hitting a career-high 134. After the visitors found themselves in early danger at 4-66, the 35-year-second old’s ODI century propelled England to a decent total. England decided not to risk Malan in Sunday’s T20 World Cup final against Pakistan at the MCG because he was recovering from a groyne injury. However, Malan was England’s lone player against an Australian onslaught desperate to rebound from a heartbreaking early T20 World Cup departure.

Cummins (3-62) dismissed England opener Phil Salt and No. 4 James Vince in rapid order, while Mitchell Starc dismissed Jason Roy with an inswinger. Malan was successful in rallying enough support to rebuild England’s innings.

Dawid Malan, Man of the match: “It’s usually really good wickets, grounds like this are small square which is handy. Tough to miss those two games with all the work you put in over three years. It was gutting. Then to come back here and score a hundred was extremely satisfying. It did a bit early on with the new ball and they bowled very well. We were probably 30-40 runs short. Think 50-over cricket is my strongest format but it’s a tough team to get into.”

Pat Cummins, Australia Captain: “Fantastic performance, a team performance. We came in here really fresh and keen to get back into it. Ash Agar into the team, Travis Head, they stood up. Everyone cracked on, it was great. Really pleasing to see classic Smithy, fluent from ball was awesome. It came out alright today, in that last month or so each time I play I’m getting better.”

Jos Buttler, England Captain: “Not fussed about the result at all, it’s all about the character we showed. Wanted to play with intent. Dawid Malan a fantastic innings. To get to that score from the position we were in was brilliant. In the field we took risks and everyone responded. I’m sure we’ll make a few changes throughout the series…keep deepening that talent pool.”

The sides will meet again on Saturday in Sydney and on Tuesday in Melbourne.

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