Image courtesy of: The Guardian
Rain claimed the second match of the series
Australia maintained their 1-0 lead heading into the fourth ODI after the third ODI in Edgbaston was washed out just 16 overs into England’s innings, in which they were struggling at 59/3.
Australia captain Michael Clarke won the toss and elected to bowl first as he believed “with rain around there might be a bit in it”.
The baggy greens got off to an outstanding start as pace bowler Clint McKay ran out England opening batsman Michael Carberry for just one run.
England found themselves in even more trouble as Carberry’s opening partner, Kevin Pietersen, was also dismissed shortly after for only six runs.
Joe Root became the next victim of Australia’s onslaught as he was out caught and bowled to Adam Voges for 12 runs.
Despite all the carnage taking place around him, England batsman Jonathan Trott, who is also known as ‘Mr Consistent’ was looking in fabulous nick.
After being hit in the grill of his helmet by left-arm pace bowler Mitchell Johnson, Trott looked to come alive as he powered his way to 28 off 41 balls, which included two boundaries, before the heavens parted.
With the players eagerly waiting to get back on the pitch, the weather took a turn for the worse and the umpires had no choice but to call the match off.
Australia wicketkeeper Matthew Wade admitted that the baggy greens had planned to attack Trott with some bouncers right from the beginning of his innings.
“It’s definitely a plan to target Trott with the bouncer,” Wade said. “It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to work that out. Any batsman getting bouncers at the pace Mitch is bowling them is going to find it quite difficult and we’ll target that and try and mix his feet up and get him caught behind.”
Wade also found it extremely “disappointing” that the rain had triumphed in the end.
“It’s really disappointing that the rain came in,” Wade added. “We started so well. But we’re 1-0 up and we’re looking to push-on.”
The Australian wicketkeeper praised Johnson’s bowling and stated that he should definitely be included in the second leg of the Ashes series when England travel to the Land Down Under in November.
“Mitch is one of the quickest I’ve kept to for a while,” Wade said. “More importantly, his accuracy is second to none and he is swinging the ball nicely, too. When you move the ball back in at 90 mph it is tough for any batsman. One of our aims is to take early wickets and he is doing that for us.
“He probably feels a lot fresher. He got away from international cricket for a while. The scrutiny and pressure he was under is hard work for anybody. So to come in with a fresh mindset is probably the key to his success.
“If you’re picking the Ashes team tomorrow he would definitely be in it. We don’t have a lot of available fast bowlers right now. But if he bowls like this, he’ll be in the mix for sure.”