Curran shines as England beat Australia in 5th ODI

Eoin Morgan’s side earned a measure of revenge for the Ashes defeat by beating their hosts 4-1, rounding off the series with a 12-run victory in Perth’s brand-new Optus Stadium on Sunday.

Curran, whose brother Sam will be part of the England squad for the T20 tri-series, has built his white-ball reputation on the back of some nerveless displays for Surrey and said he was someone who always wanted to be in the thick of the action with games in the balance.

Marcus Stoinis hit four sixes in his 87 to guide Australia to 189-4 in reply. The dimensions of the oval itself were such that the first scoring shot, off the very first ball, was an all-run four to Jason Roy.

Mark Wood – 4/10 – Wood has been England’s best bowler in the series, but struggled to make much of an impact, finishing as the most expensive England bowler in the match.

In a major letdown during the historic unveiling of Perth Stadium, Australia suffered several batting stumbles to fall 13 runs short of the seemingly middling target of 260.

No sooner had Andrew Tye completed a maiden five-wicket haul in his home city of Perth than 4,000 miles away in Bangalore the gavel came down on his £794,000 Indian Premier League deal with King’s XI Punjab.

David Warner – 3/10 – Once again, a disappointing performance for Warner. Marsh was victim to a simply outstanding return catch from Moeen, who thrust out his right hand and plucked a fiercely struck straight drive just as the umpire was ducking for cover.

Andrew Tye was the star with the ball, finishing with 5 for 46 from 9.4 overs.

The pitch has some green covering and cracks already.

Ditto England in terms of the fact that they ultimately lost only by three wickets, first recovering to 196 on the back of a fighting 78 from Woakes and then giving Australia just the hint of a fright by collecting seven wickets in the run-chase.

Having begun the series with a whirlwind 180 at the MCG, Roy seemed intent on ending it in a similar manner, driving powerfully down the ground and through cover across a fast outfield.

Australia bat first against England.

Adil Rashid – 8/10 – By far England’s most productive bowler, Rashid exploited Australia’s trouble against spin, finishing with figures of 3-49.

“We’ve got a lot of improving to do if we want to be a force in the World Cup in just over 12 months’ time”.

It was not the last twist, however, Paine sticking around, ably assisted by Zampa until he was bowled by Curran, to leave himself and Josh Hazlewood needing 24 from the final three overs.

The lbw shout was turned down and Morgan was unsure about reviewing it but was persuaded by the confident Curran.