Australia beat England as Ben Stokes is out obstructing the field

Second one-day international, Lord's:

Australia 309-7 (49 overs): Smith 70, M Marsh 64, Stokes 3-60

England 245 (42.3 overs): Morgan 85, Cummins 4-56

Australia won by 64 runs; lead series 2-0

England slipped 2-0 behind in the one-day international series as Australia won at Lord's in a game overshadowed by an obstructing the field dismissal.

 

Midway through England's reply, Ben Stokes was given out after the ball hit his hand as he took evasive action.

Steve Smith struck 70 and Mitchell Marsh 64 from 31 balls as Australia made 309-7 from their 49 overs.

Skipper Eoin Morgan fired four sixes in a defiant 85 but England were all out for 245 to lose by 64 runs.

It was only the sixth dismissal for obstructing the field in the 3,861-match history of one-day internationals and the first for an England player.

The third of the five matches takes place at Old Trafford on Tuesday.

 

 The controversy

In the 26th over, Stokes pushed a defensive shot back at bowler Mitchell Starc, who hurled the ball back at the batsman as he saw him leave his crease and sensed the chance of a run-out.

Stokes turned away as the throw arrowed towards both him and the stumps and dived back in an attempt to regain his ground, but the ball hit his outstretched hand.

On-field umpires Kumar Dharmasena and Tim Robinson consulted third umpire Joel Wilson who applied law 33.1, deeming that Stokes had "wilfully" obstructed the field.

Out obstructing the field in ODIs
Batsman	Match	Venue/date
Rameez Raja	Pakistan v England	Karachi, 1987
Mohinder Amarnath	India v Sri Lanka	Ahmedabad, 1989
Inzamam-ul-Haq	Pakistan v India	Peshawar, 2006
Mohammad Hafeez	Pakistan v South Africa	Durban, 2013
Anwar Ali	Pakistan v South Africa	Port Elizabeth, 2013
Ben Stokes	England v Australia	Lord's, 2015

 

Captain's Reactions

Australia captain Steven Smith: "It was blatantly out. The ball wasn't going to hit him, Stokes was out of his crease, he put his arm out and got in the way of the ball.

"I thought it was the right decision at the time and I still think it's the right decision."

England skipper Eoin Morgan: "It would have been very different if we were fielding."
Asked if that meant he would have withdrawn the appeal, Morgan replied: "Yep."

Fomer England captain Michael Vaughan did not agree with the decision 

There was some cricket too

In addition to the assured Smith, who finished with 486 international runs in four innings in London this summer, there was a 16th ODI fifty from former skipper George Bailey (54), while Glenn Maxwell (49) and Shane Watson (39) scored at well above a run a ball.

The much-maligned Watson struck successive mighty sixes into the top tier of the Lord's pavilion and 115 were added from the final 11 overs.

In the England innings the crowd, incensed by the Stokes decision, cheered a thrilling late rearguard as Morgan and Liam Plunkett hit nine fours between them and recorded a fifty partnership in just 19 balls.

They shared a ninth-wicket stand of 65 a record for England against Australia - but Plunkett had his stumps shattered by Starc before Morgan was last out, caught at long-off to give pace bowler Pat Cummins figures of 4-56.