Australia demolish England behind Head, Warner centuries, sweep series

Centuries from openers Travis Head and David Warner have propelled Australia to a dominant 221-run victory over rivals England at the MCG to cap off a 3-0 ODI series win.

An undermanned England won the toss and sent the hosts in to bat on a Melbourne pitch that offered a little for the bowlers early.

Head and Warner looked largely untroubled in the early stages, however, racing off to a 0-for-64 start after the first 10 overs.

The pair continued churning out runs as they both motored towards half-centuries – Head off 55 balls and Warner off 53.

Their partnership passed the 100-mark in the 19th over as both men looked poised to go big.

A rain delay in the 20th over did little to slow down the Australians who quickly powered towards centuries against a listless English bowling attack.

Head, who dominated much of the strike, brought up his third ODI century in the 27th over off just 91 balls to continue his superb year.

In the 32nd over, the partnership hit the 200-mark.

Warner’s 19th ODI ton came 10 overs later off 97 balls – the second-most in Australian ODI history trailing Ricky Ponting’s 29.

A 19-run over off the bowling of Olly Stone saw Head and Warner join Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly as the only pairs in ODI history with multiple 250-run stands.

Warner was eventually dismissed two overs later by Stone for 106, however, he and Head set the record for the highest ODI partnership ever at the MCG with 269 runs.

Head was bowled by Stone three balls later for 152 off 130 – the highest ODI score of his career.

Head and Warner also became the equal-fastest pair to reach 1,000 ODI runs as a partnership joining New Zealand’s Roger Twose and Nathan Astle.

Rain again stopped play in the 43rd over with Australia at 2-for-292 restricting the match to 48 overs apiece.

Late cameos from Steven Smith – 21 off 16 – and Mitchell Marsh – 30 off 16 – saw the Australian total balloon beyond 350 with the hosts finishing 5-for-355 off 48 overs – their highest ever ODI total against England and the MCG one-day record.

The English openers were unable to enjoy the same success as their Australian counterparts with opening-match centurion Dawid Malan caught behind off Josh Hazlewood in the third over for just two.

James Vince and Jason Roy did what they could to stabilise the innings before Australian skipper Pat Cummins dismissed Roy leg-before for 33.

At 2-for-57, England’s hope had mostly faded, and matters were made worse when Sam Billings top-edged a pull shot straight back to Cummins two overs later.

Sean Abbott dismissed Vince for 22 and captain Jos Buttler lasted only four balls before Adam Zampa sent him back to the pavilion.

Zampa dismissed Buttler, Chris Woakes, and Moeen Ali all within 13 balls as England’s innings began to collapse.

Sam Curran, Liam Dawson, and Willey all reached double-figures to ensure the tail offered a little more resistance than the middle order, however, England were bowled out for 142 in under 32 overs.

Zampa claimed 4-for-31 whilst Cummins and Abbott each notched a pair of wickets.

Hazlewood and Marsh also bagged wickets to ensure all five of the Australian bowlers finished in the wickets column.

Australia finished with a 221-run win to sweep the series 3-0.

Head was named Player of the Match whilst Warner took home Player of the Series.

Australia’s summer of Test cricket begins against the West Indies in Perth next Wednesday – who they will play in a two-match series – before facing South Africa in a three-Test series beginning on 17 December.