Bristol: Travis Head starred with both bat and ball as world champions Australia beat England by 49 runs in a rain-marred fifth and final One Day International at Bristol on Sunday to complete a 3-2 series win.
England were set a for a huge total when opener Ben Duckett (107) and in-form captain Harry Brook (72) shared a third-wicket stand of 132 in 98 balls.
But from 202-2, slow bowling proved England’s undoing as they lost their last eight wickets for 107 runs to be dismissed for 309, with part-time spinner Head taking an ODI best 4-28.
Australia’s Matthew Short (58) and Head (31) made a blistering start to the chase with an opening stand of 78 in slightly more than seven overs.
And when rain stopped play, Australia were 165-2 off 20.4 overs — well ahead of the target required under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method used to decide weather-affected white-ball games.
The umpires called the game off shortly before 6pm local time (1700 GMT), with Australia having halted an inexperienced England ODI team’s recovery from 2-0 down in the series.
