Australia v England – story of the match

England hopes of a one-day whitewash against Australia came crashing down at the Adelaide Oval, where the seeds of a three-wicket defeat were sown in a calamitous first half-hour.

The tourists had threatened to ruin the home side’s Australia Day celebrations by sealing a fourth successive ODI victory but instead found themselves on the brink of humiliation when Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins left them reeling at eight for five in the seventh over.

Exactly 11 years ago Australia embarrassed England by winning a day/night match before the floodlights had even been turned on and without Chris Woakes’ defiant 78 this might have been even more crushing.

Tweet of the day

Stat of the day

Australia’s strike pair of Hazlewood and Cummins did not just share seven wickets, they jammed up England’s scoring throughout the innings. Of the 120 legal deliveries bowled by the pair, 80 were dot balls.

Hales has a Pat problem

Alex Hales’ dismissal at the hands of Cummins continued a worrying trend in the battle between the pair. In the 16 deliveries the Australian quick has bowled at the Nottinghamshire man in one-day cricket, four have resulted in a wicket.

Diminishing returns

After breaking England’s one-day batting record with 180 in the first match of the series, Jason Roy has scored a grand total of 21 in his next three innings. Roy was dropped last summer after an extended period of poor form but his proven ability to go big should insulate him from a similar fate when Ben Stokes returns.

Gun shy

In honour of Australia’s national day, organisers arranged for a flyover and 21-gun salute to take place. But instead of staging the festivities between innings, it was scheduled for early in the second innings, meaning batsmen and bowlers had to go about the business as loud shots rang out at regular intervals across a couple of overs.

Head for heights

Travis Head has opened the batting just four times in his 33 ODIs for Australia, but the figures suggest that may be his natural home. His 96 here gave him an average of 67 at the head of the innings, compared to 37.21 elsewhere in the order.

What’s next?

Australia v England, 5th ODI at Perth Stadium – Jan 28.