Another day, another game and another crushing defeat for the Australian cricket team.
They are dead and buried in the five-match one-day international (ODI) series against England and will be whitewashed for the first time in such a format by their oldest rivals if they lose the final game at Old Trafford on Sunday (11am).
Choosing to bat first at Chester-le-Street yesterday, the tourists managed to resemble a decent team for an hour or so. The opening pair of Aaron Finch and Travis Head put on a century partnership but, from 101 for no wicket in 19 overs, they subsided to 310-8 in their 50 overs.
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Finch and Shaun Marsh both reached three figures and there was an entertaining 63 from Head, but no one else managed to pass 20.
In the old days that score might have presented the hosts with a daunting challenge but this England team, up against possibly the worst bowling attack in Aussie one-day history, demolished the total in what was their highest one-day run chase against Australia (and their second of all-time).
Openers Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow laid the foundations for the easy win with a 174-run partnership, the former scoring a wonderful century and the latter rattling up 79 off 66 balls. And then, just as the Aussies thought it couldn’t get any worse, Jos Buttler strode to the wicket and smashed 54 from 29 balls to give England victory with more than five overs and six wickets to spare.
“It was a pretty solid performance all round,” England captain Eoin Morgan told the BBC. “The bowlers struggled to take wickets early on but the other way you can control the game is the run-rate and they did that exceptionally well.”
Asked about the prospect of a whitewash on Sunday, he replied: “The 5-0 doesn’t hold huge significance. The opportunity to win a game against a good side is huge.”
For the tourists - who have now lost 15 of their last 17 one-day matches against all opposition - they are struggling to take any positives from the debacle.
The Australian newspaper tried, but it was all rather half-hearted. “While the six-wicket loss to England at Chester-le-Street overnight was not as horrific as the one that preceded it, there were moments almost as miserable,” it said. “Most notable of these was the sight of Tim Paine dropping the most straightforward of catches in the England innings.”
