MANCHESTER (United Kingdom): Glenn Maxwell and Alex Carey hit brilliant hundreds as Australia sealed ODI series win over world champions England in the third match at Old Trafford on Wednesday.
Australia, chasing a target of 303, were all but out of the game at 73-5 when Maxwell came to the crease.
“It probably wasn’t the ideal situation when I came in but being the last batter, I suppose I had a bit of license to go for it right from the start,” Maxwell told Sky Sports. “We thought if we could take it as deep as we could, myself and Alex, we might be a chance at the back end.”
But an Australia record sixth-wicket stand of 212 between Carey (106) and Maxwell (108) helped give the tourists a 2-1 success as England suffered their first home ODI series defeat in five years.
Earlier, Jonny Bairstow had revived England from the depths of 0-2 with a superb hundred that saw them to 302-7 after the opener watched from the other end as left-arm quick Mitchell Starc removed Jason Roy and Test captain Joe Root with the first two balls of the game.
Sam Billings (57) and Chris Woakes (53 not out) also hit valuable fifties.
Maxwell’s hundred was just his second century in 113 matches at this level, with Carey’s innings the wicketkeeper’s maiden century in his 39th ODI.
But when Maxwell holed out off leg-spinner Adil Rashid, Australia still needed 18 off 15 balls. That became 10 off six when Carey, whose century came off 106 balls, was superbly caught by a diving Mark Wood at third man off Jofra Archer.
New batsman Starc, however, hit his first ball, from Rashid, for six and sealed victory with two balls to spare with a four.
