Australia pulled off their biggest ever successful run chase to beat England by two wickets in a thrilling sixth one-day international at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Wednesday. After a Jonathan Trott century helped England to their highest ever ODI score against Australia of 333-6, the home side batted their way into contention, requiring six from the final over to conjure an unlikely victory.
Tailender John Hastings edged a boundary off the second delivery of the over from youngster Chris Woakes to take Australia over the line with four balls and two wickets to spare, the home side making 334-8. It was Australia's record run chase in an ODI and extended their lead over the tourists in the seven-match series to 5-1 with one game to play.
Captain Michael Clarke's late season return to form continued as he smashed 82 from 70 balls to lead the chase, with late support from David Hussey, who made 38. Clarke said the remarkable win was a great confidence booster ahead of the upcoming World Cup.
"The boys are stoked, it's a huge win for us and we can take a lot of confidence from that run chase going into the World Cup," he said. Shell-shocked England captain Andrew Strauss said his side's total should have been enough for a win. "It's very hard to believe, if you score 333 in Australia you are generally going to win," he said.
"It was an outstanding batting effort. As late as the 44th over the match still seemed to be England's to lose with Australia needing 70 off 48 balls, but Clarke and Hussey took 16 off James Anderson's eighth over. The pair followed it up with 14 off Anderson's ninth as the England bowler went on to finish with a disastrous 91 runs from his 10 overs.
Shane Watson, with 51 off 34 balls, got the home side off to a flying start in reply to what had the look of a match-winning total by England, before falling to the spin of Michael Yardy. Mitchell Johnson was promoted to number four and made 57 before being stumped from the bowling of Kevin Pietersen, while the recalled Callum Ferguson was run out for 46. An Australian win seemed unlikely after Trott's second century of the series (137), taking his haul for the series to 361 runs at 72.20 - the most runs scored for either side despite his team's indifferent form.
Before falling to the second-last ball of the innings Trott was offered good support by Strauss, who made 63 from just 69 balls, and Ian Bell, with 45 from 32 deliveries. Trott, was earlier given out lbw on 82 to Shaun Tait but handed a reprieve after a review of the decision, reached triple figures for the fourth time in ODIs from exactly 100 balls, having hit seven boundaries. Steve Smith suffered a muscle strain and will miss the final match in Perth on Sunday, while Paul Collingwood was unable to bowl in the Australian innings with a back spasm.
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Scoreboard England:
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A. Strauss c Hussey b Smith 63
M. Prior b Johnson 18
J. Trott c and b Tait 137
K. Pietersen c Smith b Lee 29
I. Bell c Clarke b Tait 45
E. Morgan c Tait b Watson 21
P. Collingwood not out 7
C. Woakes not out 0
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Extras: (b1, lb4, w6, nb2) 13
Total: (for six wickets, 50 overs) 333
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Fall of wickets: 1-41, 2-121, 3-189, 4-293, 5-319, 6-330.
Bowling: Lee 9-1-66-1 (1w), Tait 10-0-59-2 (1nb, 1w), Johnson 6-0-43-1 (1nb, 2w), Hastings 7-0-48-0 (2w), Hussey 4-0-25-0, Smith 7-0-40-1, Clarke 1-0-7-0, Watson 6-0-40-1.
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Australia:
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S. Watson c Strauss b Yardy 51
B. Haddin c Trott b Anderson 20
C. Ferguson run out 46
M. Johnson st Prior b Pietersen 57
M. Clarke run out 82
C. White c Morgan b Finn 20
D. Hussey c Prior b Finn 38
S. Smith run out 0
J. Hastings not out 7
B. Lee not out 2
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Extras: (w11) 11
Total: (for eight wickets, 49.2 overs) 334
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