Australian captain Michael Clarke shepherded his side to their greatest ever one day international run-chase, a thrilling pursuit of England’s daunting 6-333 at the SCG.
Bursting into life after a summer of poor batting and harsh criticism, Clarke (82, 70 balls) played his finest innings of the series to reel in the target against an admittedly weak England attack lacking Tim Bresnan, Chris Tremlett, Ajmal Shahzad and Graeme Swann.
Only eight runs were needed from as many balls when Clarke was run out by England centurion Jonathan Trott’s flat return from the deep, but John Hastings (7no) and Brett Lee (2no) collected the remainder with two wickets and four balls to spare.
Shane Watson (51), Callum Ferguson (46), the promoted Mitchell Johnson (57) and David Hussey (38) all played their part to keep pace, though Steve Smith was added to a lengthy injury list with a hip strain.
Of England’s bowlers only Steven Finn (2-51) and Michael Yardy (1-47) maintained any sort of pressure, and it was startling to see the usually parsimonious Jimmy Anderson (1-91) knocked around so freely.
Watched by a small but expectant crowd of 19,479, the Australians were given exactly the kind of rollicking start they required by Watson, whose rate of progress was exceptional even by Twenty20 standards as he crashed eight boundaries in a 34-ball 51.
By the time Watson fell, swinging Yardy to short midwicket, 87 runs had been swashbuckled from the first 12 overs, and the pressure of the scoreboard reduced.
In the sort of lateral move Clarke is becoming known for, Johnson was promoted to No.4 and responded with an innings of occasional bluster but mainly a balance of power and control more common among batsmen than pinch-hitters.
There was one curious episode involving Matt Prior and an apparent appeal for bowled even though it was Prior’s gloves that had disturbed the bails, but otherwise Johnson sailed smoothly to his half century.
At the other end the recalled Ferguson was poise personified while matching his handsome career average, and his dismissal was a surprise.
A mixed up run out was not the best way to go, but the partnership meant that when Johnson followed, stumped on the charge against Kevin Pietersen, Clarke and White had a quite manageable task ahead of them in conditions that remained friendly.
They added 30 together before White hooked Finn to deep square leg, maintaining his indifferent vein of form across the series, but with 10 overs remaining only 84 were needed.
Clarke and Hussey set about their task with tremendous purpose, adding 90 runs in 71 balls against some ragged bowling.
Hussey edged behind with 20 still needed, but the major work had by then been done.
Trott (137, 126 balls, 11 fours) earlier soared to a second century of the series and turned it into his highest one day tally, with support from captain Andrew Strauss (63) and Ian Bell (45).
Together they posted England’s highest limited overs total in Australia, surpassing the 302 made against Sri Lanka at Adelaide in 1999 – a match they also lost.
Australia’s bowlers met with harsh treatment, though Shaun Tait (2-59) bowled presentably on his return from a muscle strain.
Though granted a runner as he battled cramp, Trott was later able to bowl.
Paul Collingwood could not, however, after suffering a twinge in his back while batting.
Australia’s previous best chase was the 327 they gobbled up against South Africa at St George’s Park in 2002.
Clarke saluted his side and said their successful chase had been founded on a series of calculated gambles.
“It’s a nice feeling, obviously 330 was going to be a tough ask, we had to take a few risks and Mitch was probably one of those to go up the order in the powerplay,” he said.
“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.
“I think there’s going to be some pretty big scores, some pretty flat wickets similar to that, I think you’re going to have to get used to chasing some big totals.”
However he confirmed that Smith had suffered a muscle strain and would be out of the final match, at Perth on Sunday.
jameswm
Guest
dead right boo boy. I hate that Clarke seems to have an entitlement to be in the team. And not just him. And just to show how clever the selectors are, now Clarke seems to be finding his form again, they go and rest him. Surely he needs to be batting more while he's batting better. I could give you 20 1st class cricketers in Australia who cold produce at least 1 good knock after that many chances. I actually think Clarke is usually a better test batsman that ODI. Too often he scores too slowly and puts pressure on the guy at the other end. He bats like an average player (worried about his average) and lacks urgency. That's a luxury you can't afford. I think overall DHussey does a better job playing a similar role. And give White everything you want - he shouldn't be there.
Dave1
Roar Rookie
"There was one curious episode involving Matt Prior". Different teams get treated in different ways. If it was an Australian or a Pakistani it wouldnt have been described as "curious". People would be screaming blue murder. It is interesting how the media covers it up for other teams.
Brendon
Guest
I notice the "Mitchell Johnson sucks" article by Luke Doherty has double the comments than this article which has positive things to say about Michael Clarke. Sums up the attitude of cricket fans around Australia today. Why have we become the biggest bunch of bitching whingers around? What happened?
Seiran
Guest
Clarke finally performs well with the bat in the position that suits him best. At 5.
Boo Boy
Guest
Not that we ALL HATE CLARKE, it is we hate the selection process and how one guy seems to have been given the dream run to getting picked and being annointed captain without doing anything memorable. Cricket Australia is the real subject of our BOOING!
Brendon
Guest
Clarke's performance in test cricket is definitely in question. No doubt about that. Even if he does get dropped from the test team it doesn't mean he has to be dropped from the ODI team. Cameron White has done nothing this series against a second rate ODI team's second rate bowling squad. How the hell is he going to score runs in the World Cup against Sri Lanka/Pakistan in the 1st round or South Africa /India if we play them in Q/F, S/F or final? But the silence on White's failure this series and the howls for Clarke's head just shows you most cricket fans base their opinions and ideas on emotion and personal attitudes rather than rational reasons and facts and figures. Some people were even suggesting that White be given the captaincy ... So far this summer in ODI's (including Sri Lanka series) Cameron White has scored 192 runs at 27.4 . Hardly captaincy material. Even in the two Twenty20's he did nothing. 6 runs averaging 3. 198 runs at an average of 22 for Australian in 2010-11 is cause for questioning.
Rickety Knees
Roar Guru
Thankfully Cameron White no longer plays Test Cricket. Clarkes' performance in the recent Ashes was poor.
Justin
Guest
Has the capacity to be the best spinner in AUS, if given half a chance by the selectors...
Talisman
Guest
Just heard the news that Jason Krezja is in the side for the last ODI. I thought he must have upset Hilditch too, as he was dropped & forgotten so soon after his spectacular Test debut. He must surely play, with little time or matches before the WC - the other spinners seem unlikely to be fully fit for it.
formeropenside
Guest
What Mr Knees said.
AngrySeahorse
Guest
Well done Clarke maybe people will start getting off your back now.
Brett McKay
Guest
James, my 'surprisingly' there refers to Johnson, sorry if that's not clear... And Prior, well who knows. Throw in his referral to the leg-side wide, plus numerous other curious referrals this summer with both glove and bat, and he's not making it easy to defer any fault in that "bowled" incident...
jameswm
Guest
What's so surprising about Ferguson doing well? He's got a track record for it in ODIs. As for Prior - honestly, what on earth was he thinking? He thought he could get away with that? What is this - backyard cricket?
Brendon
Guest
Surprise surprise. theroar's "We Hate Michael Clarke Fan Club" has gone quiet. Cameron White fails again - no mention.
Rickety Knees
Roar Guru
I have been critical of Clarke this summer - however credit where credit is due he played an exceptional innings last night that set up the Australian win, albeit on a very flat track. His captaincy was also good. I will feel easier about him when he replicates this form in Test Cricket and he is not batting on a road.
Lolly
Guest
The Ferguson and Johnson partnership was important as they didn't lose too much of the momentum that Watson had gained them. Keeping up with the run-rate required was a nifty piece of work by both of them as Johnson is a hitting tail-ender and Ferguson is a third choice for this series. Until that run-out, they seemed to be batting together very nicely. And it was great to see Clarke get off his backside and hit, it really was a relief to see that him play a skipper's knock at an appropriate sr for the context. He seems happier further down the order in test and ODI's.
TammyS
Guest
Good innings and 54 in the last match. It looks like he's starting to get his confidence back with the bat. Runs is all he needs. Everything else he has been criticized for is irrelevant
Brett McKay
Guest
yeah, good post Rhys. I thought Ferguson, Johnson (surprisingly), Clarke and Hussey, all did really well in that middle period, especially Ferguson and Johnson, who got things ticking over again after Haddin and Watson fell in quick succession. Clarke and Hussey managed the target exceptionally well in the last eight overs, and Umpire Erasmus probably did Clarke a favour by not letting him take the powerplay when he originally wanted to. Great win though, you don't chase 334 by fluke...
Judge Smails
Guest
Nice innings, FOR ONCE! Let's see him do it in the test matches when they set fields to get you out and not just to contain you hitting boundaries.
Rhys
Guest
Clarke's received more than his share of criticism of late, some warranted perhaps, but most in my opinion not. He played a fine innings last night, responsible and well paced throughout. The Aussies notched up their highest successful run chase in ODI history and now lead the series 5-1. Clarke must be doing something right as captain.