James Taylor's 101 helps England beat Australia in third ODI

Third one-day international, Emirates Old Trafford:

England 300-8 (50 overs): Taylor 101, Roy 63, Morgan 62, Cummins 2-50

Australia 207 (44 overs): Finch 53, Moeen 3-32

England won by 93 runs; Australia lead series 2-1

James Taylor's maiden one-day international century helped England keep the series alive as they beat Australia by 93 runs at Old Trafford. 

England opener Jason Roy made 63 before Taylor anchored the innings with 101, adding 119 with captain Eoin Morgan (62) as the hosts posted 300-8.

Aaron Finch (53) gave Australia a good start but they were bowled out for 207 in 44 overs as England's spinners took charge, Moeen Ali taking 3-32.
Australia lead the ODI series 2-1.


It would have been the highest successful ODI run chase at Old Trafford if they had made it - but England looked in control as soon as leg-spinner Adil Rashid took the crucial wickets of Finch and captain Steve Smith.

                                     Moeen and Rashid had combined figures of 20-2-73-5

England spin to win

Old Trafford has traditionally rewarded spin bowlers - everyone from Jim Laker to Monty Panesar - and the pitch did not disappoint.

After Australia started well, Rashid (2-41) breezed through his 10 overs in one burst, before off-spinner Moeen then picked up Glenn Maxwell and George Bailey in mid-innings as Australia's challenge spluttered.

The tourists had chosen an extra spinner with slow left-armer Ashton Agar (1-45) handed his ODI debut.

While he and Maxwell did their best to keep the brakes on England, they were ultimately out-bowled by England's spin pair.

                                      James Taylor's 101 came from 114 balls

 

 

The James Taylor rollercoaster

Taylor's stop-start ODI career took another turn with a deserved maiden hundred - but it will be interesting to see where he fits into the England side in the long term.

Though his first two appearances came in under-strength sides sent to Ireland for one-off games in 2011 and 2013, his first proper opportunity sprang from Alastair Cook's one-match suspension for a slow over-rate offence in Sri Lanka last December.

Despite establishing himself at number three in the tri-series which followed, Taylor was shunted down to six just before the World Cup.

The rollercoaster continued in May as with the Test side still in the Caribbean, Taylor was sent across the Irish Sea again, this time as captain of an inexperienced England side, for a rain-hit match that only lasted 18 overs, but he then had to carry the drinks against New Zealand.

The decision to rest Joe Root for this series opened the door for Taylor again - and he has wedged his foot into that door with scores of 49, 43 and 101 at first wicket down.

But when Root returns, England face a battle to squeeze 12 players into 11 unless they drop an all-rounder - so Taylor's uneven ride may not have finished just yet.

Fewest fours for England in an ODI century
4 - Paul Collingwood (100 v Sri Lanka, 2002); Eoin Morgan (106 v Australia, 2014)
5 - Graeme Hick (108 v Australia, 1999; 126* v Sri Lanka, 1999); Jonathan Trott (109* v New Zealand, 2013); James Taylor (101 v Australia, 2015)

                                Roy followed up his 63 from 45 balls with a stunning catch

 

 

Champagne catches for Finn and Roy

England have taken some superb catches this summer, notably Ben Stokes's slip catch in the Trent Bridge Test, but two breathtaking grabs under the Old Trafford lights stood out as nine out of 10 Australian wickets fell to catches.

Steven Finn's astonishing leap to catch Smith one-handed at short mid-wicket was out of the top drawer, and arguably turned the match. Finn, usually to be found at the traditional fast bowler's home of fine leg, had taken 24 catches in his 111 previous appearances in an England shirt., but this was most certainly one he can tell the grandchildren about.

"I've known Steven since he was 15 years old and he's never taken a catch like that. I hope he takes more," his Middlesex team-mate Morgan told BBC Test Match Special.

Roy also plucked one out of the night sky after Agar lifted high towards long-on - he had run in a couple of yards too far but kept his eye on the ball and grasped the chance at the second attempt.
"You won't see a better catch than that. Stupid stuff," ex-England spinner Graeme Swann said on TMS.

               Finch has a highest ODI score of 148 - and a highest T20 international score of 156

 

 

 

Finch returns as injuries take toll

While England made one change, bringing in Jonny Bairstow after resting Jos Buttler (despite already having Kent keeper-batsman Sam Billings in the squad), Australia's selection problems have been more extensive - with no fewer than seven players leaving the tour since it began in June.


A World Cup-winning opener earlier this year, Aaron Finch had hamstring surgery after the Indian Premier League before a foot injury saw Yorkshire rule him out for the rest of the summer as recently as July, although he returned for their last Championship match.

Nominally still his country's Twenty20 captain, he was not named in their original limited-overs squad, but as one of three Australians plucked from county cricket to bolster an injury-hit roster, the burly right-hander found himself straight back at the top of the order to replace the injured David Warner, hitting eight fours in a characteristically aggressive 53.

Four of his seven international hundreds have come against England (and another against Scotland) - but this time he came out second best to Yorkshire team-mate Rashid.

Finch, Rashid and the other Tykes players will be on more familiar territory when the series continues at Headingley on Friday.

Alex Hales entertained the Old Trafford crowd when he briefly donned a walrus mask