Wade scored his sixth ODI fifty
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
Australia wicketkeeper-batsman Matthew Wade hammered an unbeaten 71 to lead his side to a 59-run win over England in the first ODI in Southampton.
Wade was well supported by opener David Warner, who scored a brilliant 59.
However, England opener Jason Roy deserves a lot of credit as he made a valiant 67.
Australia captain Steven Smith would have been delighted with his decision to bat first as Warner and his opening partner, Joe Burns, both had a positive impact with the bat.
Burns and Warner put together a 76-run partnership before Burns was dismissed for 44. However, Warner managed to surpass the half-century mark before he was caught off the bowling of Adil Rashid for 59 off 67 balls, which included six boundaries.
Warner smashed six boundaries during his knock of 59
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Despite losing Burns and Warner, Australia continued to excel as Smith scored 44 before Wade and Mitchell Marsh stole the spotlight with their unbeaten 112-run partnership.
Wade ended up scoring 71 off 50 balls, which included 12 boundaries, while Marsh smashed 40 off 34 deliveries, which included two boundaries and a six, as Australia finished on 305/6 off their 50 overs.
Rashid was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets, while Mark Wood chipped in with one.
Chasing 306 to win, Roy, James Taylor and skipper Eoin Morgan were the only three batsmen who made notable contributions with the bat.
Roy scored 67 off 64 balls, which included 11 boundaries, while Taylor fell one agonising run short of his half-century. Morgan meanwhile managed to make 38 before he was caught behind off the bowling of Shane Watson.
Roy made a gutsy 67
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With all of the other batsmen having a minor impact with the bat, England ended up falling well short of their target as they were bowled out for 246.
Watson, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Coulter-Nile and Pat Cummins snapped up two wickets apiece, while Marsh and Glenn Maxwell claimed one wicket each.
Morgan was disappointed to have lost the match, and said: “Australia bowled well in the 10-15 overs in the middle of the chase. I thought they defended pretty well, but we are a better side than that. You can always do things differently, we will look at our plans and try to improve for Lord’s. It is frustrating but I don’t want to take anything away from the way the guys play. Australia are a very strong side and we’ll have to play well. Today was an opportunity which we missed.”
Smith was delighted to have gone 1-0 up in the series, and said: “Nice to be on that side of the draw, thought the boys played very nice. To score 93 off the last 10 was a good effort. The pitch was a little two paced when the ball got older. Thought Joe Burns has looked nice, Davey Warner is a class act. Hopefully the middle order can support them. This sort of attack has done really well for us, we are No. 1 in the world. You have to sum up conditions in each match. Matt played some very smart cricket to get us to 305.”
Wade was named Man of the Match, and said: “Really happy with the start. I was feeling pretty bad when I ran Watto out, so knew I had to take it as deep as I could. I didn’t know what a good total would be, allowing Mitch to take the bowlers on. Thought we were 10-15 under but we bowled really well. It’s great to be back, feel I’ve played well in one-day cricket.”