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England v Australia, 1st ODI: Five Things We Learned

Australia draw first blood in the ODI series, as England fall 60 runs short of their target of 305. Here are five things from The Ageas Bowl…

Man of the day: Matthew Wade 71* (50)

Strange one, this, because the returning Matthew Wade ran out Shane Watson horribly and came up with a review so dire it would have warmed the cockles of his predecessor Brad Haddin, as he challenged one Ben Stokes completely missed down the legside off Glenn Maxwell. Wade managed three other catches but his most important intervention came with the bat, where he put the Watto mishap behind him to leather 12 boundaries in an hour to take Australia to a very decent total, having been teetering on the edge. A mighty fine performance from what coaches irritatingly call “the bowling unit” did the rest.

Adil Rashid: 10-0-59-4

The two arguments against selecting Adil Rashid for international cricket are his propensity for bad deliveries and apparent inability to take top order wickets. So, imagine the hilarity when he took top order wickets with bad deliveries here, on his way to his best bowling figures in ODIs. A full toss did for Joe Burns, who gave him a return catch, and Steve Smith, who found deep mid-wicket. Truth be told, it was probably his most impressive performance with the ball for England, showcasing his variations and, well, balls to give the ball some flight, especially to David Warner, who had benefitted from couple of drag-downs from the leggie.

Taylor the Tinkered Soldier (Spy)

James Taylor hasn’t quite fit – insert height gag here - with England, for one reason or another. He’s been there or thereabouts for yonks and has never really been given a chance to nail a spot. In the side here in place of Joe Root, his handy knock was vintage Taylor: shuffly, busy and at times brutal, but pretty ungainly, too. His tracking of Marsh to move from two to eight was great, as were the fast hands for a glorious cover drive and a handsome pull. But whenever Taylor gets out, it looks ugly and that’s the image that sticks. Here, there were just too many moving parts as he inside-edged Watson for four, then played on. Sounds harsh, but Taylor will need plenty more this month if England are to reshuffle their side when Root returns.

Roy Of The Limited Overs

It’s an easy comparison on so many levels but there was more than a little bit of the Kevin Pietersens about Jason Roy’s 67. There was the wristy dab to third to bring up his 50 and the sexy short arm jab between midwicket and mid-on shortly afterwards, as well as a couple of booming drives, and that sense that even when Roy defends, he’s still attacking really. His spot had been under pressure from Moeen going into the game but he should get the series at the top of the order now: he, Hales and Taylor selflessly risked their wickets set a platform that the middle order found a way to squander. At some stage, batting first on a flat one, the belligerence and sheer fun of Hales and Roy are going to do some serious damage….

Sad Watto

Shane Watson has had a torrid summer. Dropped after one Test and consigned to drinks waiter duty, he’s looked ever so sad. At Cardiff on Monday, the world kicked him when he was down. Then, with a flailing, massive boot and all the ball control of a new born foal, he was unable to prevent the pill dribbling meekly onto his stumps. Here, he was completely barbecued by Matthew Wade, who ran him out horribly. Sad faces all round. With the ball, it looked as though they’d continue, as his warm-up delivery – meant for his team-mate at mid-on – went miles wide and to the fence and the crowd laughed. But Sad Watto became Angry Watto when Taylor got a tasty send-off, then Almost-Happy Watto when Morgan feathered a bouncer behind. Smile, Watto. Please.