Group stage England v Bangladesh (16 June) Amid rains at
The Oval,
Jon Lewis had a stunning ODI debut for the
England cricket team against
Bangladesh, removing
Javed Omar and
Mohammad Ashraful with successive deliveries before taking out
Nafees Iqbal in a good opening spell. Admittedly, it was aided by cloudy skies, which gave Lewis plenty of swing - his main threat - but it was still a decent return for the debutant.
Steve Harmison was his usual erratic self, going for nine off the first five balls of an over before removing
Tushar Imran with a ball that was gloved onto the
stumps just before the end of 15 overs, making it 57 for 4.
Habibul Bashar, the highest averaging Bangladesh batsman, gloved a short ball from Harmison to a diving
Geraint Jones, and he was on his way for 19 - Bangladesh now 72 for 5. Lewis actually bowled his ten overs straight, ending with three for 32, as the last over was just an exercise in defending from the visitors. Wicketkeeper
Khaled Mashud was next to go, attempting a pull off a poor ball down the legside, for 1. However, a solid recovery from
Aftab Ahmed and
Mohammad Rafique slowly gave the Bangladeshis a chance, before rain intervened again after 30 overs. Coming back from the rain break, Aftab and Rafique continued to smack the England bowlers, particularly
Paul Collingwood, but eventually Rafique gave a chance to Harmison at long leg and the Bangladeshis were seven down for 152. And only a couple of overs later, Aftab was out in a close run-out decision, for 51.
Khaled Mahmud then went for a golden duck, playing a poor shot to a short ball from Harmison, his fourth wicket of the day. However,
Nazmul Hossain and
Mashrafe Mortaza frustrated the English bowlers, with
Darren Gough eventually ending the resistance as he got Nazmul for 6 to end the innings for 190. However, the Bangladeshis offered no resistance in the bowling, as only Mortaza was hit for less than six an over.
Marcus Trescothick hit his ninth One Day International century off just 76 balls,
Andrew Strauss supplied with a level-headed 82, and ten extras added up to a total of 192. The winning runs - a four from Strauss - were hit inside 25 overs and with all ten wickets to spare. (Cricinfo scorecard)
Australia v Bangladesh (18 June) Perhaps, the biggest upset in the history of
limited overs cricket,
Mashrafe Mortaza shocked the
Sophia Gardens crowd when he had
Adam Gilchrist plumb on the second ball of the second
ODI, taking the first
Australian wicket without a run yet on the scoreboard - and it was to set the tone of the match. Most people would have expected Australia to swamp
Bangladesh, especially after the 10-wicket defeat the Bangladeshi Tigers endured in the opening match with England, but a maiden from Mortaza gave them some hope, at least. Things looked to be going the right way for Australia when
Matthew Hayden took a boundary off
Tapash Baisya, but another maiden followed, and in the sixth over
Ricky Ponting padded up to Tapash Baisya - resulting in an lbw decision given, and Australia were - incredibly - 9 for 2. Cautious batting from Hayden and
Damien Martyn followed, but some expensive bowling from Baisya relinquished the initiative, as Australia recovered somewhat. They survived through 15 overs, Hayden being caught off a
no-ball from Tapash, but in the 16th, he was bowled by
Nazmul Hossain for 37 off an inside edge, just as Hayden were looking to get himself in. Some economical bowling from
Mohammad Rafique who bowled ten overs for 31 runs, along with excellent bowling from Mortaza at the death, resulted in Australia finishing on 249 for 5, losing Martyn to Baisya for 77 and Clarke to the same man for 54. In fact,
Michael Hussey with 31 not out off 21 balls and
Simon Katich with 36 not out off 23 ensured that they got a competitive target. That was not all, however. The chase began very sedately, only
Tushar Imran looking to take runs as he smashed
Brad Hogg about, but Hogg got his revenge when Tushar was out for 24, lofting to Katich. Earlier,
Nafees Iqbal had gone for 8, and with
Javed Omar out as the third man to fall, for 19 off 51 balls, it looked to be business as usual for Bangladesh. But this match had more tricks up its sleeve. Hogg and Clarke leaked runs like a drain, six wides were bowled, and
Mohammad Ashraful showed another glimpse of why he's been called Bangladesh's finest batsman. As he made the second ODI hundred in the Bangladesh team's history, he forged a massive 130-run partnership with
Habibul Bashar, and had a great two hours at the crease (although dropped on 54) - before picking out
Jason Gillespie at long on to be out for exactly 100. Bangladesh still needed 23 runs off 17 balls, but
Aftab Ahmed continued his fine form from the Oval match with England, as he first took a
leg bye off Ashraful, then gave the strike to Rafique, who smashed a cover driven four before taking another legbye. A four and a dot-ball finished a 10-run over, meaning that Bangladesh now needed only 13 off 12 balls. A good over from McGrath followed, as he conceded only six runs - including an edged four from Rafique. With the last over, Bangladesh needed seven runs, and Ahmed swung the first ball of the over to midwicket for six. Thus, it became a formality - Bangladesh won with four balls and five wickets to spare, almost convincing in today's cricket, and the result meant that the Aussies needed a victory over
England at
Bristol the following day to have any chance of winning the group stage. (Cricinfo scorecard)
England v Australia (19 June) Ricky Ponting chose to bat when he won the toss for the visiting
Australian cricket team in an extremely tense and see-sawing match at
The County Ground, Bristol. It looked like a great decision when
Jon Lewis and
Darren Gough were smashed about early on, as Australia made their way to 57 for 0 after 11 overs with
Adam Gilchrist and
Matthew Hayden taking sixes off Lewis over midwicket. However, with the entrance of
Steve Harmison, everything changed. In his third over - the twelfth of the game, he removed Gilchrist with a bouncy ball that the batsman edged behind, then Ponting with a yorker that he didn't play at - resulting in lbw - then a dot ball, and then
Martyn with a slog shot to
Pietersen at third man. Australia tried to consolidate, but when Hayden tried to hit out off Harmison four overs later,
Paul Collingwood jumped up to pick the ball out of the air with his right hand - a magnificent catch, and Australia had lost four wickets for six runs, reminiscent of their collapse in the Twenty20 match earlier on in the week. Australia dug themselves out of the hole, however,
Michael Clarke and
Michael Hussey slowly accumulating to increase the rate.
England clearly lacked a fifth-bowler, opting instead for
Vikram Solanki to bat down the order, so they used a combination of
Michael Vaughan, Solanki and Collingwood to get through their ten required overs. That let Australia off the hook, with Clarke and Hussey adding 105, before
Jon Lewis - who had been taken to the cleaners earlier on - dug out
Michael Clarke with an inside edge onto the stumps, taking the fifth wicket of the game at just the right time.
Shane Watson accumulated well with Hussey, however, hitting six an over as Lewis was smashed about again, but Harmison got his revenge by completing his first five-wicket-haul in ODIs as Hussey was beaten by a slower ball - the first time Hussey had been dismissed in One-Day Internationals, for a batting average of 229. Then,
Andrew Flintoff was brought back, getting a splendid yorker in for Watson, who was out for 25 just as the Aussies were preparing to hit out - the score 220 for 7 after 44.1 overs.
Jason Gillespie and
Brad Hogg survived a couple of overs from Flintoff and Harmison - meaning that Harmison finished with five for 33 off ten overs. Towards the end, Australia built up again, before losing Gillespie to a top edge, but 244 for 8 with seven balls remaining still looked difficult for England to chase. Gough dug out
Michael Kasprowicz with a yorker with two balls to spare, and four legbyes ended the innings to take Australia to 252 for 9. England started positively in reply, taking 39 off the first 34 legal deliveries (while Gillespie served up four wides and a no-ball in his first over), but Glenn McGrath took revenge by serving up a good yorker to have
Marcus Trescothick bowled for 16. Two overs later,
Andrew Strauss went in identical fashion, and Vaughan and Collingwood were forced to consolidate. They did, although in jerky fashion, Collingwood eventually falling to Kasprowicz and Flintoff mistiming a hit off Hogg to see England into a spot of bother at 119 for 4 after 27.2 overs, with Vaughan and
Kevin Pietersen at the crease. Edges and runs followed, but when England lost Vaughan and
Geraint Jones in quick succession, and were 93 short with only 74 deliveries left, it looked dark for England. Pietersen then upped the ante. Smashing runs to all corners, especially off Gillespie, he reached his fifty off 46 balls, and then took 19 more deliveries to bring up an additional 41 runs - although surviving an extremely close run-out decision near the 40th over. A level headed 7 not out from Lewis - making up somewhat for his bowling - ensured the English were home by three wickets and 15 deliveries - and the Australians had only managed two points from their first two matches, while England had gained 11. (Cricinfo scorecard)'
England v Bangladesh (21 June) Michael Vaughan chose to bat first on a good batting wicket at
Trent Bridge, as
England looked to set a massive target and keep up their good form. After a bit of a shaky start, with
Andrew Strauss being dropped, but
Marcus Trescothick smashed boundaries to all corners as
Bangladesh's bowlers were made to look distinctly ordinary. Trescothick made a 51-ball fifty, before taking Tapash apart in the 15th over, as England cruised to 128 for 0 after 15 overs. A couple of overs later,
Nazmul Hossain made the breakthrough, a massive smash ending in
Shahriar Nafees' hands, as Trescothick hit an entertaining 85. The new batsman Vaughan looked shaky at the crease, and eventually finished with an eight-ball duck, giving an inside edge to Nazmul's bowling.
Andrew Flintoff was next to fall, giving a catch off
Aftab Ahmed to skipper
Habibul Bashar for 17, but good recuperation from Strauss and
Paul Collingwood kept the run rate well over six, and Strauss could hit a 100-ball century with a single off Rafique in the fortieth over, and with the next ball Collingwood hit his fifty with a boundary. After ten over, England were 270 for 3, and Strauss and Collingwood decided to have some fun. The next nine overs went for 116 runs, Nazmul getting Strauss with the second last ball of the innings for 152 - England's second highest ODI score, and their highest since 1983. Paul Collingwood made 112 not out as well - only his second ODI century - to propel England to 391 for 4, the second highest ODI score of all time.
Chris Tremlett, England's ODI debutant, started well with good pace - near 140 km/h - while
Jon Lewis served up full tosses and wides from the other end. In the tenth over, Tremlett got his due reward, first having
Shahriar Nafees gone with an inside edge and then followed up with having
Tushar Imran caught behind for a golden duck.
Mohammad Ashraful was then given another life, misreading a ball from Tremlett which ended up on the stumps - incredibly, the bails stayed on, so Ashraful survived. The next 20 balls he faced were duly dispatched for runs - he particularly took a liking to
Steve Harmison, who conceded more in 17 balls today than in the entire match against Australia - and he made the fastest ODI fifty by a Bangladeshi off just 21 balls. He looked to be on his way to the fifth-fastest ODI century, having hit 94 off 51 balls, but eventually hit one expansive stroke too many as he was bowled by Collingwood. That calmed the nerves of the England team - after 26 overs, Bangladesh required ten an over for the last 24 overs with seven wickets in hand and
Javed Omar and
Habibul Bashar - both with a batting strike rate which equated to less than four an over - at the crease. The only question was whether the Bangladeshis could steal a bonus point from the English, which looked unlikely as Collingwood grabbed two quick wickets and reduced them to 180 for 5, and in the next over he removed
Javed Omar as the Bangladeshi got an inside edge. Collingwood eventually finished with six for 31, taking
Khaled Mashud and
Mashrafe Mortaza as well, Mortaza bowled with the last ball of his 10-over-spell - to become the first person in ODI history to make a century and take a six-wicket-haul. Harmison, however, the hero of the last game, had to endure dropped catches off his bowling as he conceded 55 runs from eight overs, but he was not needed to bowl all ten as Tremlett removed
Mohammad Rafique for 19, ending the Bangladeshi innings on 223 - 168 runs behind England. Overall, England could take some good batting form from their openers and a stunning debut from Tremlett - who looked much more impressive than Lewis in this game - out of the match, while Bangladesh could be happy with the swashbuckling Ashraful and Nazmul's three wickets. (Cricinfo scorecard)
England v Australia (23 June) Australia squared the
ODI series by winning a game where
England missed their captain
Michael Vaughan due to injury.
Marcus Trescothick, the stand-in captain, won the toss and decided to chase at the
Riverside Ground, thus giving his own side the task of batting under floodlights.
Chris Tremlett who had made an impressive debut against
Bangladesh, struggled early on with his line and length, and the Australian openers
Matthew Hayden and
Adam Gilchrist punished him for runs. In his fifth over, however, Tremlett got a breakthrough, Gilchrist mistiming a cut and
Geraint Jones taking the catch behind. However,
Ricky Ponting didn't toss his wicket away early, leaving it to Hayden to hit the runs, and at the end of 15 overs the Australians were 73 for 1.
Andrew Flintoff and
Steve Harmison, the change bowlers, kept the pressure up on the batsmen, however, not letting too many runs away even though they bowled the occasional wide, and they could reap the rewards with two quick wickets, Ponting for 27 and Hayden for 39, and people began to remember the last ODI between the sides. However, this time there was no collapse. Two
no-balls from Harmison followed,
Andrew Symonds and
Damien Martyn defended well, waiting for Harmison and Flintoff to be taken off and saved for the last overs. They were - and Australia were let off the hook. Symonds and Martyn paired up for 142 runs, taking runs off every bowler - even Flintoff and Harmison - and batted together for nearly 25 overs, with a partnership run-rate of nearly 6. The first four overs only yielded 13 runs, but when Harmison was taken off England lost the sting. Symonds was finally
run out by the skipper Trescothick for 73, a hopeless attempt at taking a single, and Flintoff dug out
Michael Hussey for 5 two overs later. Australia, however, made a highly competitive 266 for 5, and in the seaming conditions one would expect it to be enough. As it turned out, it was.
Brett Lee, opening the bowling for Australia, started off with a maiden over to Trescothick, and England struggled to get off the mark, being four for no wicket after three overs. Another maiden from
Glenn McGrath followed, and then
Andrew Strauss departed with an inside edge off Lee. In the next over, Trescothick was gone for a 15-ball duck, to an away-swinger from McGrath, and two balls later
Paul Collingwood gave a massive inside-edge onto his stumps - England were six for three, and staring down the barrel. A rescue operation from
Andrew Flintoff and
Vikram Solanki followed, pairing up for 79 before Solanki was caught at midwicket off
Brad Hogg. Then, Flintoff was nearly
stumped off Hogg's bowling, only to give a catch at long on later on in the over for 44. With England at 94 for 5, they needed seven and a half runs an over, with
Kevin Pietersen and
Geraint Jones at the crease. However, even Pietersen couldn't save them this time, as he was caught in the deep off Symonds for 19, and the rest of the match just became a task to bat out 50 overs. Thanks to
Darren Gough, who made 46 not out (ironically, the top score of the innings), and a level-headed 11 not out from
Steve Harmison, England made that, but lost by 57 runs - thus also losing the bonus point. (Cricinfo scorecard)
Australia v Bangladesh (25 June) Australia recorded a thumping 10-wicket win over
Bangladesh to level their head-to-head record in the NatWest Series to 1–1. Under leaden skies at Old Trafford,
Ricky Ponting made the wise decision and chose to bowl, and short-balls from
Brett Lee immediately had the Bangladeshis worried. They survived six overs without loss before
Javed Omar was trapped by an in-swinger for a 20-ball 3.
Tushar Imran was next to fall to Lee, and many expected a procession to begin, but
Shahriar Nafees and
Mohammad Ashraful gave the crowd a treat with some special strokes. Ashraful had two top-edged sixes, as Lee was dispatched for 20 runs in the eleventh over. By the drinks break after 15 overs, Bangladesh were 76 for 2, having added 53 from the last 39 balls. Ponting, however, brought on the spinners
Brad Hogg and
Andrew Symonds, who both got a fair amount of turn out of the Old Trafford pitch, and Symonds had Shahriar bowled for 47 with a yorker that he played late to. The next ball, he got the out-of-form captain
Habibul Bashar, and the wickets began to tumble quickly. Symonds got five wickets for 18 runs, Hogg three for 29, Bangladesh collapsed from 137 for 6 (when
Khaled Mashud was bowled by Hogg) to 139 all out in three overs, as Ashraful went for 58 and no one else really offering any resistance to the slow Australian bowlers. Bangladesh had
Adam Gilchrist in some trouble early on, especially through fast bowler
Mashrafe Mortaza, who had him beaten several times in the opening overs, but
Matthew Hayden was imposing at the crease, punishing the inevitable bad balls from
Nazmul Hossain who was taken off after three overs, having conceded 29 runs. However, no one could stop the rot, Hayden and Gilchrist taking runs at will after a while to see Australia to the target inside 20 overs. Australia thus closed the gap to England to three points, as the situation indicated by the ICC rankings before the series became more and more possible - that Bangladesh were to be whipping boys and England and Australia would go through. (Cricinfo scorecard)
England v Bangladesh (26 June) A lacklustre effort from
England's opening bowlers was still enough to beat
Bangladesh and cement a final between England and Australia in the NatWest Series.
Habibul Bashar won the toss and batted first, and it looked to pay off as
Shahriar Nafees,
Javed Omar and
Tushar Imran milked runs off the English opening bowlers. Especially
Simon Jones - returning from injury - was erratic, bowling eight wides in the match, while
Darren Gough was just smashed around the park. However, Jones got the early wicket when Nafees cut it to
Marcus Trescothick at slip - before Bangladesh rebuilt again. After 16 overs, they were 82 for 1, and looked to build a sizable target. However, their opener Javed - whose ODI strike rate was just above 50 at the time - slowed things down, and a double blow from
Andrew Flintoff - first getting Tushar with an inside edge to have him bowled, and then
Mohammad Ashraful for a golden duck -
Bodyline-style. That set the Bangladeshis back, and patient bowling from
Ashley Giles and
Paul Collingwood resulted in the run-out of captain Habibul for 10. With
Aftab Ahmed falling for 15, it was up to wicketkeeper
Khaled Mashud who did an excellent job in lifting Bangladesh past 200 - taking a particular liking to Gough as he made 42 not out off 43 balls. Flintoff got two more wickets in the innings, finishing with four for 29, as he had Javed bowled for 81 and Mashrafe bowled for 1. England got off to a very good start, with Trescothick and
Andrew Strauss continuing in the vein of previous matches against the Bangladeshis, and pairing up for 99 runs for the first wicket. Trescothick was eventually out for 43 to
Mohammad Rafique, giving a catch behind, but despite the spinners taking wickets, they were also expensive, Strauss in particular taking them for runs as he was
bowled on 98 - attempting a sweep to bring up the win, the bonus point and his own century. Instead, the win was brought up very anticlimactically, Geraint Jones facing three balls before Manjural Islam Rana served up a
wide. A disappointment for England would be that Flintoff still struggled with his batting form, only making 22, though in the match it mattered little - England still took the bonus point and qualified for the final, making the last two games redundant for them. (Cricinfo scorecard)
England v Australia (28 June) The eighth match of the NatWest Series eventually became an anti-climax, but for large parts of the match it wasn't - despite the fact that both teams had qualified for the final before the last game.
Ricky Ponting won the toss and chose to send his openers in - and they took advantage.
Darren Gough was innocuous, conceding 23 runs in his first two overs, prompting a bowling change in the fifth over, sending
Steve Harmison on. Meanwhile,
Simon Jones got some swing with the new ball - and, yet again in this series,
Adam Gilchrist was caught behind off a swing bowler, out for 19. Shortly afterwards, Jones tried to throw the ball back at the wicketkeeper as
Matthew Hayden pushed it back to him, but Jones hit Hayden with the balls, and a few words were exchanged -
Paul Collingwood joining in the fray as well. However, the match got on, Jones and Harmison putting on the pressure and eventually having Hayden lbw on 14 - after he had failed to score from the last eleven deliveries.
Damien Martyn then faced five dot-balls, and Jones served up a wicket maiden, and Australia were at 46 for 2 at the end of the tenth over. However, that was as good as it got for England.
Andrew Flintoff dug out skipper
Ricky Ponting for 34, but it mattered little, as Martyn and
Andrew Symonds took advantage of the bowling.
Michael Vaughan tried to put himself on, but Symonds smashed him over midwicket for six - the first of the match, displaying the despair. With some no-balls from Gough, and Simon Jones getting smashed early on, Australia were 220 for 4 after 42 overs, and looked on course for 300. However, the run-out of Symonds for 74 changed the course of the innings.
Michael Clarke departed for three, a good catch by
Geraint Jones behind the stumps, and Harmison then served up a wicket-maiden in the 46th over, of all things. With
Brad Hogg and
Jason Gillespie giving soft catches to Gough, that redeemed his figures somewhat, but he still conceded 70 runs. The last over from Flintoff was very good, however, conceding only three runs with yorkers directed at the feet of the batsmen, and Australia had to be content with 261 for 9. England's chase was interrupted once by rain, after three overs, when they were eight for 0, but coming back they were set 200 to win in 33 overs. That was never possible - rain started again after three more overs - and when
Andrew Strauss fell the umpires decided that play was no longer possible, and a no-result was declared. (Cricinfo scorecard)
Australia v Bangladesh (30 June) The last game of the round robin of the NatWest Series was, as expected, won by the Australians. However, it summed up the improvement Bangladesh had made over the tour of England. In the first international, they were rolled over meekly by a no-balling, rusty English side - twice. In the last,
Brett Lee and
Jason Gillespie put the pressure on early, and with the aid of
Shane Watson had them on the reels with 75 for 5. Yet, Bangladesh recovered to post 250 for 8, and were theoretically in with a chance for most of the game. Yet, they started very, very shakily.
Javed Omar was dropped by
Matthew Hayden in the third over, only to be out to
Jason Gillespie in the next for an eight-ball duck - a disappointing end to a fine series for the Bangladeshi. Brett Lee had both
Tushar Imran and
Mohammad Ashraful beaten with full deliveries, Bangladesh were 19 for three wickets down - an all too familiar position. A quickfire 30 from captain
Habibul Bashar helped to take away some of the jitters, as Bashar took 16 runs off a Brett Lee over, but a bouncer from
Shane Watson wasn't successfully evaded, and
Adam Gilchrist could take the catch.
Aftab Ahmed had to settle for 7, and it was down to the last two recognised batsmen -
Shahriar Nafees, who had quietly moved his way to 25 not out, and wicketkeeper
Khaled Mashud. However, the two put on a nigh-on faultless partnership of 94, taking their time to consolidate. Shahriar eventually departed for 75, edging a short ball from
Shane Watson to the wicket-keeper - the usual method of dismissal. However, their partnership had given Bangladesh hope, and
Mohammad Rafique took advantage with a six off Watson. Despite two more wickets falling - Rafique and
Khaled Mahmud (caught at mid-on on the last ball) - Bangladesh had recovered to 250 for 8, which could potentially be tricky to chase.
Mashrafe Mortaza was hit around for twelve in the first over, however, and the momentum swung towards Australia. Mortaza hit back by inducing an outside edge from
Matthew Hayden to wicketkeeper Mashud for 1, and four balls later a ball from Mortaza hit captain
Ricky Ponting on the pads - but too high to be given out. Gilchrist and Ponting paired up well, however, even though Gilchrist rode his luck with a few drives in the air, but in the 10th over he gave a somewhat dubious catch to slip Khaled Mahmud, and was gone for 45 - all while rain threatened to damage the match. However, the weather gradually improved, along with Australia's chances - after 15 overs, they were 83 for three, having lost
Damien Martyn for 9, but only needed slightly less than five an over. However, economical bowling and riskless batting from Australia saw Bangladesh in with a chance again. Ponting and
Michael Clarke let the run rate go to more than six an over, but Khaled Mahmud's bowling at the death to
Andrew Symonds left a bit to be desired, as Australia could take the necessary runs and win by eleven balls and six wickets to spare. A Bangladeshi – Shahriar Nafees – got the Man of the Match award, possibly for his effort to keep the match exciting after Bangladesh had crumbled to 75 for 5. (Cricinfo scorecard)
Final points table Final England v Australia (2 July) The final of the NatWest Series ended in an anticlimax for the visitors, but throughout it gave entertainment to the crowd - despite being a relatively low-scoring game. It didn't look to be low-scoring early on, though, as
Adam Gilchrist and
Matthew Hayden punished the
England opening bowlers
Darren Gough and
Simon Jones to be 50 for 0 after 6.3 overs. Two balls later, Hayden went for one expansive stroke too many - driving to
Ashley Giles at mid-off for 17. England captain
Michael Vaughan brought his change bowlers on, first
Andrew Flintoff for Jones (who had been taken for 29 runs in his first three overs) and then the big man from
Ashington,
Steve Harmison. Those changes turned the match on its head. Instead of the Australian batsmen taking easy runs off the English bowlers, the English bowlers now tied down the batting, getting rewards in the form of wickets. Gilchrist gave a catch to
Kevin Pietersen at short leg for 27, and when Harmison was brought on a couple of overs later, he immediately got a wicket - of
Ricky Ponting for 7, and Australia were 71 for 3 after 12.1 overs.
Damien Martyn and
Andrew Symonds decided to retreat into their shell, as the English bowling turned from difficult to nigh-on unhittable, Flintoff getting a touch on the off-stump of Symonds, but the bail didn't fall off, so he survived. However, the pair could only add 19 from 35 deliveries, before Harmison had Martyn caught behind with a ball that moved away from the batsman, off the waiting edge and into
Geraint Jones' gloves. Following the
dismissal of Martyn, Vaughan brought back
Jones - realising that
Australia were reluctant to hit runs and thus allowing Jones to get through his overs without causing as much damage as he did early on. In fact, he and Harmison were part of a remarkable streak - they served up 28 successive dot-balls to Symonds and
Michael Clarke (who bowed under to the pressure and was hit on the pad, out
lbw for a 19-ball two). However,
Michael Hussey - facing his first ball at 93 for 5 after 25 overs - took control of Jones, and when Harmison was taken off, Australia were let off the hook. Symonds and Hussey batted out 15 overs, but Symonds struggled to hit runs and eventually smashed a drive to
Andrew Strauss, who took a grateful catch, thus ending Symonds' innings for 29 - off 71 balls, a good innings in
Test cricket but in
ODI cricket virtually useless.
Michael Vaughan then used a strange bowling change, keeping spinner
Ashley Giles on for an over more than required and thus borrowing one from
Andrew Flintoff who wasn't allowed to bowl a full ten. In the event, it mattered little. Flintoff had ample time to rip out
Brett Lee and
Jason Gillespie, and, with Harmison taking care of
Brad Hogg and
Glenn McGrath committing batting suicide with a shot not exactly out of the textbook, Australia were all out for 196 - and England were comfortably in the drivers' seat. That was before they got in to bat, however. England survived the first three overs, bowled by McGrath and Lee, without loss. From then on, however, the English lost wickets by the bucketful. England went from 11 for 0 to 19 for 4 in the space of four overs, as the bowlers put the pressure on immediately, and their entire top-order came and went for single-figure scores.
Paul Collingwood and
Andrew Flintoff survived for a couple more overs, before Flintoff edged McGrath to slip - the score 33 for 5, and England should see themselves lucky to bat out 50 overs - or even score 100 runs. Collingwood and
Geraint Jones decided to wait, giving McGrath maiden overs (as he finished his first bowling spell with figures of 7-4-9-3), and despite the batsmen being rapped on the pads, they survived, even taking the occasional six off
Jason Gillespie. After 25 overs, England were 65 for 5, but the Australian spinners didn't get too much out of the track. Dot-balls flourished, but the partnership kept in there, and a second six - from Jones off Hogg - showed their intent. After thirty-five overs, England were 113 for 5, and required a run a ball, with four overs of Lee and three of McGrath still to negotiate. However, England kept pushing, never letting the run-rate get above 7. Skipper Ponting showed some desperation when he brought
Michael Hussey on with nine overs to spare, knowing that the spinners couldn't keep it tight, but got his reward in Hussey's second over when Collingwood was run out for 53 - off 116 balls. Then Geraint Jones smacked two fours off Hussey to end the over, meaning that England needed 39 off 36 balls. Five balls later, a miscued sweep off Hogg hit Geraint Jones on the pads - gone for 71 - and England only had three wickets to spare. Two more balls were delivered before that tally was cut down to two - Hussey
bowled Simon Jones for a two-ball one, so with Gough and Giles in, England needed 35 off 29 balls. Despite taking the runs off Hussey, Brett Lee's 47th over only yielded a single, as his variations of length turned out to be just the thing. However, Ponting now needed another over from either Hussey, Hogg or Symonds - deciding to use Hussey, he was punished, as Giles hit twos to both the off and leg side, and a wide from Hussey resulting in a nine-run over. Lee then came back on, and with his short ball had Giles playing a definitely unorthodox stroke - a sliced edge over Gilchrist's head for four. Singles were taken to end the over, but McGrath was to bowl the last over of the game, with England still needing ten to win. Things got easier for England when McGrath overstepped with the first ball of the over, Gough making contact and running the single to cut the target by two - the
no-ball for overstepping and the run single - and the no-ball meant McGrath still had to bowl six balls in the over. Giles then played and missed, before hitting a single, and then Gough drove the two next balls to cover for two. Suddenly, England only needed three off two - and were, incredibly, in a winning position again. But Gough's next shot was right back to McGrath, who took it up well and tossed it at the stumps, running out Gough and meaning that McGrath would bowl to Ashley Giles - and England still required three to win. The ball hit Giles' pads, ran away down the off side, and Giles and Harmison ran all they could to scamper two leg-byes - and tie the game. (Cricinfo scorecard) ==NatWest Challenge==