Australia’s Travis Head was proud of his performances with both bat and ball as the world champions completed a 3-2 one-day series international victory over England thanks to a 49-run win in Sunday’s rain-marred finale at Bristol.
England were poised for a huge total at 202-2 in the 25th over as Ben Duckett (107) and captain Harry Brook (72) shared a century stand.
But England then succumbed to spin as they collapsed to 309 all out, with Head’s occasional off-breaks yielding an ODI best 4-28.
“It’s always nice to get the job done for the team,” said Head, both the player-of-the-match and series. “We’ve got a lot of options with the ball and I am more than happy to help when I am needed.”
Head, in his primary role as a left-handed opening batsman, then made a brisk 31 during a blistering first-wicket stand of 78 in slightly more than seven overs with Matthew Short (58) as Australia looked to get ahead of the forecast bad weather.
And despite the umpires calling for a drinks break after 17 overs in cool conditions and a change of boots for paceman Matthew Potts, England did bowl the minimum 20 overs needed in the second innings for a result to be declared under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method.
Four balls later, a downpour took the players off the field, never to return, with Australia well ahead of their DLS target at 165-2.
Head won the series award thanks to 248 runs at an average of nearly 83, including an ODI best 154 not out in the opener at Trent Bridge, and six wickets in total at just 10.33 apiece.
“I am pleased, especially getting off to the start I did,” said Head of his batting form.
Australia captain Mitchell Marsh, who didn’t play Sunday due to injury, praised his side’s resolve by saying: “Five one-dayers in 12 days is always going to be a challenge… Trophies are really hard to win, we build towards those and we look forward to (the ICC Champions Trophy in) Pakistan in a few months time.”
– ‘Tempo’ –
Brook, meanwhile said an inexperienced England 50-over team could be proud of how they had fought back from 2-0 down.
“We’ve got a hell of a lot of positives to take away from that,” said Brook, leading England this series in the absence of the injured Jos Buttler.
“They (Australia) are the best team in the world and we’re playing against some of the best bowlers and batters to have ever played the game.”
Brook’s innings on Sunday was his third successive score in excess of 50, the 25-year-old Yorkshireman posting his maiden ODI century in Tuesday’s win at Chester-le-Street before his 87 paved the way for a colossal 186-run success at Lord’s on Friday.
“I think I’ve figured out a tempo in ODI cricket,” said Brook. “It’s just similar to the way I’ve been batting in Test cricket — try and look to play the ball late and try to apply pressure on the bowlers when needed.”
Brook is one of several England players involved at Bristol who face a quick turnaround before joining up with a Test squad that travels to Pakistan for a three-match series starting in just over a week.
Brook, however, was happy to be heading to be a warmer climate.
“I love playing cricket,” he said. “It might be a little bit different for a bowler but as a batter, I’m alright with it. I’m off to a hot country, it’s bloody freezing here, it’s horrible.”
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