Brilliant Marsh helps Australia go 2-0 up

Match Report: Australia v England - 2nd ODI - Hobart, Jan 21, 2011

Australia’s slip in the form in test format has overshadowed the fact that they are still a competitive unit in ODIs. The margin and manner of defeat in the first match was too much for an Ashes winning English team to digest so they wanted an immediate riposte. But Bollinger and Marsh wiped them out once again.

Mike Hussey missed out due to injury so Shaun Marsh got a chance while Shaun Tait replaced a laid up Johnson. For England Matt Prior returns to the ODI team at the expense of Davies who was dumped from their World Cup squad and hence the current series. Doherty met the same fate for Australia as he made way for Nathan Hauritz in the series as well as World Cup. James Tredwell came in for injured Swann. Andrew Strauss won the toss and inserted Australia in to bat. The early morning rain had made the weather seamer friendly.

Ajmal Shahzad and Chris Tremlett started brilliantly as both moved the ball both ways. After bowling first over maiden Shahzad had Watson, hero of the last match, played on off a lovely ball that nipped back. In his 4th over he repeated the same dose to Haddin. After a slow and a struggling start Captain Michael Clarke got out softly to Bresnan. The disastrous start turned into a nightmare when Tremlett accounted for David Hussey leaving Australia beheaded at 33/4 in the 13th over. Cameron White and Shaun Marsh dug deep at this point and pulled Australia out of the hole with a solid 100-run association in 20.1 overs. The dismissal of White (45 off 76) by Yardy through caught and bowled triggered another collapse for Australia and they were again in tottering at 142 for 8. They had lost 4 wickets for 9 runs and were in danger of being all out well before 50 overs.

Marsh, who in the chaos had completed his 50, took the batting powerplay immediately when 8th wicket fell in the 37th over. Shahzad dropped a tough return catch but Marsh had found a reliable partner in Doug Bollinger. Both ran hard and played in the gaps well to collect 36 runs in the powerplay with only 2 fours. Marsh then opened his arms and punished Yardy with a six first then he hit 2 fours and a six in his next over again. The last six brought up his stunning hundred. It was a timely reminder to Aussie selectors that he is well and truly ready to fill Hussey’s spot in the World Cup squad in case Hussey remains unfit. It was exactly a run-a-ball knock with 7 fours and 2 sixes. Bollinger departed after a stand of 88 runs, a new Aussie record for 9th wicket. He made a vital 30 off 30 balls with 3 fours. Marsh holed out for 110 to finish Australian innings with 10 balls to spare. They never looked like crossing 170 but thanks to magnificent Marsh they ended up posting a fighting total. Tremlett was the best bowler with 3 for 22 while Shahzad took 3 for 43.

In reply England too were in trouble from the outset as Brett Lee and Bollinger reduced them t0 36 for 3 in 8 overs. Prior had a bitter come back when he went for a duck caught in slips off Lee. Pietersen too could not open his account as he played on off Bollinger after the bowler had accounted for captain Strauss the previous ball. Trott (32 off 58 balls) and Ian Bell(32 off 61 balls) trudged along to for a while before Australia struck back with the wickets of these two in quick succession. England had lost half the team at 96 and were looking second best from there on. Eoin Morgan and Michael Yardy, then, held Australia at bay for a while but just as they were looking to pull the things back for England both were dismissed one after the other. Hauritz, sadly, had gone off the ground limping amid fears that he may have injured himself out of the World Cup. Loss of Morgan was crucial as he had started to unleash his array of strokes. It was Bollinger’s day who after contributing crucial runs with the bat now was the main wrecker-in-chief for Australia. England folded in 45 overs for 184 runs losing the match for 46 runs. Bollinger took 4 for 28 while Lee returned with figures of 2 for 39. Marsh was named the Man of the Match for his brilliant and match-winning ton.

Australia are 2-0 up in the 7-match series and are enjoying some sweet moments in the ODIs after the Ashes humiliation. If they go on to win this series, it will provide a good momentum for them to defend their World Cup title in the subcontinent.

Summarized Scores

Australia: 230/10 (48.2 overs) - SE Marsh 110, CL White 45, DE Bollinger 30*; A Shahzad 3/43, CT Tremlett 3/22
England: 184/10 (45 overs) - IJL Trott 32, IR Bell 32; DE Bollinger 4/28, B Lee 2/38

Man of the Match: SE Marsh

Match - Australia won by 46 runs
Series - Aus 2 Eng 0