da betsul： A superb unbeaten 46 by Michael Hussey rescued Australia as they beat England by four wickets in a low-scoring match at Brisbane
Peter English at Brisbane19-Jan-2007
Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary
How they were out
Jon Lewis struck early blows as England fought back after a poor batting performance, but their lack of runs proved crucial in the end © Getty Images
A committed bowling display led by John Lewis easedEngland’s pain, but it was not enough to preventanother defeat that was set up by a dire battingeffort. After England spluttered to 155 all out in 42overs on a strange surface, the home team copied themistakes and dropped to 4 for 48 before sweating to afour-wicket victory.Despite gaining an unlikely position of strengththrough Lewis’s three-wicket opening, England againreleased the pressure and Michael Hussey respondedwith a match-sealing 46. Hussey worked with MichaelClarke and Brett Lee, who finished on 20 aftersurviving a torrid spell from Andrew Flintoff, tosteer the side out of trouble. However, they werefortunate to claim a bonus point from an encounterthat turned out to be relatively even.Adam Gilchrist, the stand-in captain, committedAustralia’s first serious lapse as he heaved Lewis toJames Anderson at fine leg on 8 and Matthew Hayden wasthird out for 19 to a similar dismissal. AfterAnderson had ended Brad Hodge’s one-match opening atNo. 3 for 0, Lewis enticed Andrew Symonds (4) intoa wild flash that he nicked to Paul Nixon. Lewisfinished with 4 for 36 from his ten overs whileAnderson was also impressive in claiming 2 for 29.”You can’t fault what we did in the second half,” Flintoff said. “You can’t fault the commitment and the way they never gave up.”Hussey and Clarke, who played sensibly for 36off 62, crawled forward in a 45-run stand, but Lewiscame back to force Clarke’s exit with a leg-sidecaught-behind and when Cameron White was lbw toAnderson for 5 Australia were 6 for 108. It could havebeen worse as Hussey looked guilty when surviving ahuge appeal for an edge on 19, but the shout was notsupported by Daryl Harper.The television replays were inconclusive and Hussey later defended his decision to stand his ground. “I’m not a walker, unlike ‘Gilly” [Gilchrist], who walks when he nicks,” Hussey said. “I take the good decisions with the bad. I just leave it up to the umpires to make the decision.” The ruling became more crucial with each run he scored and added to a poor day for the visitors.England wasted their most entertaining opening of theseries with a horrific top-order collapse of 5 for 19and they needed 31 from Jamie Dalrymple to eke out thefinal total. The debutant Mal Loye and Andrew Straussgave the innings a huge boost by bringing up the 50from 61 balls, but it was the high point of anotherdisastrous batting performance against Australia.
Glenn McGrath removes Ed Joyce, one of his three wickets © Getty Images
They lost 3 for 1 in eight balls to fall to 5for 71 as Glenn McGrath showed he had recovered from aminor groin problem by taking 3 for 24. His firsteight overs included a hat-trick chance when heremoved Ed Joyce for 5 and Paul Collingwood for afirst-ball duck to Gilchrist catches.Ian Bell’s run-out was the worst of the dismissalsafter he was involved in a massive mix-up withCollingwood the delivery after Joyce had fallen. Bellglided Mitchell Johnson to gully and then performed astuttering do-si-do with his partner while CameronWhite dived, mis-fielded and then back-handed the ballon to the stumps. It was a stunning piece of work toend a terrible communication breakdown.At that point the batting mood dropped from optimisticto black humour after the encouraging 52-run openingpartnership. Flintoff, who was leading the teaminstead of Michael Vaughan, made a brief attempt at arecovery with 27, which included three fours, but hefell swiping Brett Lee to deep square leg where Hodge collected a fine running and diving catch.
Mal Loye slog-sweeps Brett Lee for six before falling for 36 © Getty Images
Hodge was called into the side while Ricky Pontingrested and he made sure the captain was not missed inthe field, even if he was unable to match hisperformance with the bat. Strauss also fell to anoutstanding effort from Hodge when he pulled McGrath.The ball lobbed in front of square leg, and Hodgeleapt at full length to accept a stunning one-handedcatch. Strauss posted a hard-working 18 after Loye’sbreathtaking start to his international career earneda run-a-ball 36.Vaughan’s hamstring tear provided a space in the squadfor Loye, who was spending the off-season withAuckland in New Zealand, and it did not take him longto put his signature on the game. Dropping down on oneknee to Lee, he produced an outrageous and stunningslog-sweep for a six behind square leg to jump to 11.The shot has been part of his repertoire sinceTwenty20 was invented, but it was a shock to see itagainst one of the game’s fastest bowlers.