He captained the team in the first match but the result was no different. Thanks to Malan’s 134, England’s score of 287 proved to be easy for Australia. England’s bowling has not been on target throughout the series. Sam Curran, who had a memorable performance in the T20 World Cup, looked unsettled in all his ODIs and conceded more than seven runs in the over.
England have memories of winning the World Cup despite a crushing defeat in the three-match ODI series. For Australia, it is another step towards building a strong team after the Finch era. They have got a new captain, a new opener and a heavy hitter in the middle order. They have all gone after their business in some fine style.
However, keeping the next ODI World Cup in perspective, England would like to improve for Durance in the 50-over format. Jos Buttler is disappointed with the series loss but is still happy with last week’s T20 win.
“We tried our best, we fell far behind,” Buttler said after the match. I think Australia outplayed us in every department and all credit goes to them.
“There’s so much to be proud of. You don’t need too long memories to remember last week’s scenes, so we got what we wanted to come here. We are very proud of it.
“A lot of people are talking about keeping bilateral cricket relevant and this series is a good example of how not to do that. One of the biggest things is the overlapping series. We have a group of players preparing for the Test series in Pakistan and we have another team playing here at the same time.
“To be honest, I feel a bit for the players – who are young and coming into the game at the moment. You want to play all formats and I don’t think the programme really gives you a chance at the moment.