NatWest Series, 2001, 9th Match Kennington Oval, London 21 June 2001 (50-over match)

Result: Australia won by 8 wickets - Scorecard

Toss: England (elected to bat)

Umpires: DJ Constant and G Sharp

 

Where do England go now? Completely and utterly embarrassed by a rampant Australian team, England had no answer to a far superior outfit in both batting and fielding.

 

Once again Australia cruised to a comfortable and emphatic win against England in this year's Nat West tournament, inflicting England's 11th straight defeat in One Day Internationals.

 

Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting hit the English bowling attack to all parts of the ground with ease as the home side struggled to defend their insufficient total of 176 all out which had been posted earlier in the day. In a terrific partnership of 124, both batsmen scored half centuries, Ponting on his way to 70 and man of the match, hit two sixes (both magnificent pulls off Caddick) and Gilchrist hit 14 superlative fours in his knock of 80.

 

Alec Stewart won the toss and on a slightly green wicket decided to bat, a decision, which was to prove fateful and rather rash, Steve Waugh looked relieved when the English captain announced his decision! Along with Nick Knight, only Caddick offered any resistance to a confident and lethal Australian attack scoring a career best 36 from 44 balls. Coming in when the home side were reeling at 8 for 119,

 

Caddick took the game to the visitors in 11 high scoring overs and added a little respectability to their total, but only just. McGrath looked in ominous form once again after resting from Tuesday's defeat to Pakistan, and Brett Lee although expensive, managed to take 3 wickets in a hostile spell of bowling. Lee's spell seemed more of a warning to the English batsman of things that lay ahead in the Test series than an effort to contain the batsman. With a little over 20 overs to spare,

 

Australia completed their victory with what appeared to be a 'second eleven'; Shane Warne and Jason Gillespie are likely to return to the starting line-up for the final on Saturday at Lord's. Let's just hope that the fans behave and a full and safe match is allowed on Saturday, if not; I'm certain Steve Waugh will not hesitate to take his men off the field after receiving the full support from the ACB.

 

Where England go now is anyone's guess, and with the serious business of the Ashes only a fortnight away, this years Nat West Tournament has hardly proved to be the best preparation for what will be a highly charged Test series. Australia on the other hand will be buoyant with yet another victory against England, but professional enough to realise that they face a tough challenge in England.