Australian left-hand opener Travis Head’s marvellous unbeaten innings of 154* runs off 129 balls guided the visitors to a comfortable victory over England in the first match of the five-match series on Thursday.
A total of 20 boundaries and five maximums were scored by him during his knock.
Tasked to chase down 316 for victory, the tourists glided to 317/3 with six overs to spare, with Head’s 154* the highest individual score by an Australian man against England at an English venue.
The win, made more remarkable by multiple absentees through injury and illness, was Australia’s 13th consecutive ODI victory against all opponents.
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The Australians were unable to select Josh Hazlewood and Glenn Maxwell due to illness, while the side also lost ODI debutant Ben Dwarshuis, who strained a pectoral muscle in the field having only bowled four overs.
In spite of his premature exit, Dwarshuis did make an early impact in the match, taking 1-18, clean-bowling Phil Salt for 17 as England’s first wicket to fall.
Fellow English opener Ben Duckett meanwhile made a bigger impact, breezing into the 90s before hitting a tame caught and bowled to Marnus Labuschagne on 95 (91).
Labuschagne went on to finish with his best ODI bowling figures (3/39 off six overs), also claiming stand-in English skipper Harry Brook (39 off 31 balls) and Jofra Archer (4) late in the innings.
Will Jacks’ 62 (56) and newcomer Jacob Bethell’s 35 (34) played roles in setting the Aussies a tough target, though Head alongside
Labuschagne pressed on in reply.
Labuschagne completed a fine individual display, hitting 77* off 61 balls with seven fours and two sixes, putting on 148 by the time the target was chased down.
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(With inputs from ANI)
