Trent Bridge: England’s rampant ODI side powered to a fourth straight win over Australia, following up their world record rampage at Trent Bridge with a commanding six-wicket victory at Chester-le-Street here Thursday led by centurion Jason Roy.
Roy (101, 83b, 12×4, 2×6) cracked his second century of the series to pave the way for England to make easy meat of Australia’s 310 for eight, which had also featured hundreds for Aaron Finch (100, 106b, 6×4, 3×6) and Shaun Marsh (101, 92b, 5×4, 4×6).
England again outplayed the visitors, pulling off their second-highest ever ODI run chase. It gave England’s hugely talented, big-hitting side a 4-0 lead in the series with the chance of an unprecedented whitewash in Sunday’s fifth and final match at Old Trafford.
After the Trent Bridge humiliation, Australia seemed determined to rebound strongly. Travis Head’s (63, 64b, 9×4) blistering half century in a century opening partnership with Finch and Marsh’s fine knocks, which saw him take 24 in one over off Adil Rashid (2/73), promised much. But the Aussies’ top three had poor support with David Willey (4/43) belatedly bowling a penetrating line.
Roy was again in dazzling form along with the equally on-song Jonny Bairstow (79, 66b, 10×4) as they laid the foundations for the win with a 174-run opening partnership. Then Jos Buttler (54 n o, 29b, 9×4, 1×6) and Alex Hales (34 n o, 45b, 3×4) proved thunderous finishers, ensuring the total was knocked off with 32 balls to spare.
Brief scores: Australia 310/8 (Aaron Finch 100, Shaun Marsh 101; David Willey 4/43) lost to England 314/4 (Jason Ray 101; Ashton Agar 2/48) by six wickets.