Innings break England 315 (Duckett 95, Labuschagne 3-39, Zampa 3-49) vs Australia
Matthew Short was also in the wickets with his offbreaks, as was Travis Head, whose two-in-two in the final over of the innings meant England were bowled out for 315 with two balls left unused, after a dramatic collapse of 8 for 102 in 17.1 overs. In total, Australia’s spinners claimed 9 for 190 in 30.4 overs, to lay down the gauntlet to Adil Rashid and England’s own slow-bowling cohort.
It had been a spirited display from Australia, who had come into the contest off the back of a sickness bug that had ripped through their camp and left them without a host of first-choice options. And given that they had lost each of their last eight ODIs against England without any of the “big three” of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, the odds seemed further stacked against them when Brook won the toss in his first match as England captain and chose to bowl first.
England’s approach at the top of their innings was “measured”, in the guarded assessment of their former captain, Eoin Morgan (whose own teams rarely died wondering when given the chance to take first use).
Duckett, reprising his now-familiar Test role for the first time in ODIs, crashed a nervy Sean Abbott for four fours in his second over, including three lusty pulls through midwicket. Though Dwarshuis bowled Phil Salt for 17 to land his maiden international wicket, he had managed just four overs when he served up an off-balance return from the outfield, and was forced to leave the field for treatment, never to return.
Zampa had been the scourge of England’s batting in their most recent ODI encounter, claiming 3 for 21 at Ahmedabad in the 2023 World Cup. However, Will Jacks signalled a more proactive approach to Zampa’s tight-lined legspin by thumping his second ball back over his head for six, and he’d leaked 27 runs in his first three-over foray by the end of the 19th.
The hundred stand came up from 86 balls, with Abbott again the victim in a 15-run over that included Jacks’ firm cut for four to bring up his 45-ball fifty. Zampa, however, couldn’t be kept out of the action for long, and in his 100th ODI appearance, he induced the error in his first over back, firing in another dipping full length that Jacks could only slap to Steve Smith in the covers for 62.
Out came Brook for his maiden innings as England captain, and with Marsh already forced to lean on his part-time spinners, Brook strode onto the front foot against Short to launch him for back-to-back sixes across two overs, as England marched on to an ominous 201 for 2 at the end of the 30th.
Australia’s scant resources were stretched ever further as Labuschagne entered the attack in the 33rd over for a speculative spell of legbreaks. However, his impact was that of a perfectly deployed secret weapon. With the fourth ball of his spell, Labuschagne landed a googly that stuck just enough in the pitch to confound Duckett’s back-foot push, and he reached to his left to pluck the simplest of caught-and-bowleds.
Duckett was aghast as he staggered from the field, wrapping his bat around his head as he reflected on another international century gone begging after his 86 in the recent Oval Test. One over later, Brook was no less nonplussed as he joined him back in the pavilion.
Though he looked to have got Labuschagne’s measure with a massive slog-sweep over midwicket to move to 39 from 30, out came that googly again, and Brook popped another mistimed push straight back to the bowler.
Jamie Smith, back at the scene of his own international debut against Ireland last year, showcased his languid power by heaving Labuschagne across the line for his opening six. But after Aaron Hardie had been forced to sacrifice his catch on the midwicket boundary as he toppled over the rope, Smith’s innings instead ended two balls later, as the substitute Cooper Connolly held on at long-on to give Short his maiden ODI wicket.
At 256 for 5, England’s hopes of a 350-plus innings were back in the hands of their main men from the T20I series, Liam Livingstone and Jacob Bethell, who was making his second format debut of the week. Zampa, however, still had three overs up his sleeve, and no sooner had he returned to the attack, Livingstone chose to take him down. It was a suboptimal option. A huge thrash through the line skewed to Cameron Green at long-on, and one over later, Brydon Carse found the same fielder in the same position with a similar shot.
England had lost five wickets for 65 in 12 overs, which became 6 for 75 when Jofra Archer spanked another Labuschagne legbreak to point. Bethell tried his best to keep England pressing onwards, but on 35 from 33, he looked to launch Head out of the ground with four balls remaining, and holed out to long-off, with Rashid finding long-on one ball later.
Andrew Miller is UK editor of ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket