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England already have the series in the bag. Last time out they smashed the world record ODI score and subjected Tim Paine, the Australia captain, to the “hardest day of cricket I’ve ever had in my life”. Still, he spotted a silver lining around the great big, extremely dark cloud. “As bad as it seems and it feels right now, this can be a really big positive for us going forward,” he said, “that we have gone through a day like this and the guys realise the sun comes up tomorrow and we get another crack at England in two days’ time.” When the big positive after a massive thrashing is the fact you get to play the team that just thrashed you again in a few hours, there really aren’t many positives to be had.
The highest ODI total in 15 matches held at Durham is a meagre 307-5, scored by England against New Zealand 10 years and a week ago. So there’s one record there for the taking. The first time England played Australia there, in 2005, they scored 209-9 from their full allocation of 50 overs. On Tuesday they overtook that tally four balls past the halfway stage on their way to a total so enormous that even if Australia bat first today they will still, two days later and in an entirely different match, be feeling the scoreboard pressure.
Related: England’s Alex Hales expects 500-run barrier in ODIs to be broken soon
Written by Simon Burnton (now) and Tim de Lisle (later)
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2018/jun/21/england-v-australia-fourth-odi-live under the title “England v Australia: fourth ODI – live!”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
