Marsh was named Man of the Match for his sensational innings of 64
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Australia produced a sensational all-round performance to crush England by 64 runs in the second ODI at Lord’s.
However, the game was marred by a cloud of controversy, which occurred when England all-rounder Ben Stokes was dismissed.
While England were left seething at the end of the match, Australia had their own headache to deal with just two balls after being put in to bat by England skipper Eoin Morgan as opening batsman David Warner injured his thumb after being hit by pace bowler Steven Finn.
Warner ended up retiring hurt and Joe Burns was dismissed a short while later for 22 runs. However, this was the point where Australia captain Steven Smith and batsman George Bailey took over as they amassed a 99-run stand.
The partnership was finally broken when Bailey was clean bowled by Moeen Ali for 54 off 72 balls, which included five boundaries.
Bailey scored his 16th ODI fifty
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Smith was dismissed a short while later, but not before scoring 70 off 87 deliveries, which included seven boundaries.
Smith’s superb form with the bat continued
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Following Smith’s dismissal, Glenn Maxwell, Shane Watson and Mitchell Marsh took over, with the first two scoring 49 and 39 respectively. Marsh on the other hand went absolutely berserk towards the end of the innings, which was reduced to 49 overs due to a wet outfield, as he blasted a highly entertaining 64 off just 31 balls, which included seven boundaries and three sixes.
Thanks to Marsh’s major contribution right at the death, Australia ended up finishing on 309/7 off their 49 overs.
Stokes was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets, while Finn snapped up two and Ali and Adil Rashid chipped in with one wicket apiece.
Chasing 310 to win, Morgan and batsman James Taylor were the only two batsmen to make a major contribution with the bat.
Morgan scored a valiant 85 off 87 balls, which included four boundaries and four sixes, while Taylor made 43.
Morgan made a gutsy 85
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Just four overs after Taylor had been dismissed, the tension between both teams skyrocketed as Stokes was given out in controversial fashion.
The incident occurred when the 24-year-old drove a ball back to Australia left-arm seamer Mitchell Starc, who then proceeded to hurl the ball back down the pitch in an attempt to run Stokes out. However, Stokes sensed that the ball was going to hit him and instinctively stuck his left glove out to stop the ball.
It was at this point that Australia appealed for Stokes having obstructed the field and the decision was subsequently sent up to the third umpire. Instead of giving the batsman the benefit of the doubt, the third umpire concluded that there was enough evidence to suggest that Stokes deliberately stopped the ball from hitting the stumps. As a result of this, the third umpire gave Stokes his marching orders and the all-rounder could do nothing but trudge back to the pavilion after having made 10 runs.
Fuelled by Stokes’ dismissal, Australia proceeded to slice through the rest of England’s batting line-up and subsequently won the match by 64 runs.
Pat Cummins was the most successful bowler with four wickets, while Maxwell took two and Marsh, Starc and Nathan Coulter-Nile claimed one wicket each.
Morgan was gutted to have lost again, and said: “After winning the toss and bowling, it was important to hold our disciplines but we failed to do so. We are a learning team and playing against a tough opposition who are a well-drilled side. Managed to get some time in the middle and you get good value for runs here at the Home of cricket. It’s difficult, when a guy throws a ball at you from 5 yards its difficult to get out of the way, it was what it was. The decision was given.”
Smith was ecstatic to have taken a 2-0 lead in the series, and said: “It’s disappointing, the decision was given and the umpires saw it the way we saw it. That was the decision made, I don’t want to shy away from the fact we played some good cricket. I thought our fielding was quite sloppy. Still lots of improvement to be done in the remaining games.”
Marsh was named Man of the Match, and said: “It’s been a nice start. Hopefully, this can continue. We have all worked extremely hard. It’s a great all-round win. Was swinging a bit too hard (in the previous game).”