MATCH STORY
Follow Us0-2 down in the series. Chasing 305 after the bowlers had conceded 104 runs in the final 10 overs. 11/2 in a stiff run chase of a must-win game.
There was a lot of pressure on Harry Brook when he walked out to bat in the third ODI against Australia in Durham on Tuesday (September 24). The fact that he is the skipper adds more responsibility. Yes, it is a preparatory series from the lens of the Champions Trophy but England don’t like losing to Australia.
However, the 25-year-old steered through all the obstacles to notch up his first ODI ton, evidently his first as captain of England, and keep the hosts alive in the series with two matches to go.
Brook caressed a fluent 110* off 94 deliveries in England’s win via the DLS method. When rain late in the evening in Durham halted the game, England were 254/4, 46 runs ahead of the DLS par score. It was a remarkable recovery from the hosts, lifting themselves up from 11/2 in three overs when both openers, Phil Salt (0) and Ben Duckett (8), were out cheaply.
Brook then staged a 156-run stand for the third wicket with Will Jacks (84 from 82 deliveries) off 148 deliveries. The duo took their time initially to absorb the pressure as the Australian seamer moved the ball off the deck.
They added only 28 runs from the first 40 balls of their partnership, which carried them till the end of the first 10 overs. Thereon, they gradually increased the pace to stay on par with the scoring rate. In five overs between the overs 12 to 16, England put on 37 runs with Brook scoring four of the six boundaries in this phase.
However, the actual acceleration came post the 20th over. Over the next 7.3 overs, until Jacks was out, they amassed 56 runs, taking the innings run rate 6.1, as much as the asking rate at the start of the chase.
Brook contributed 70 off 68 balls to this partnership. With no pressure of run rate and a flatter pitch, the right-hander slowed down post Jacks’ departure, ensuring Australia don’t have the upper hand.
Yet, he notched up the ton in 87 balls, with back-to-back fours in the 35th over. Overall, Brook took only 33 balls to convert his half-century into a hundred, scoring 13 fours and two sixes in total.
Adam Zampa’s absence (due to illness) also helped England’s cause. Australia brought in an extra seamer in Sean Abbott but clearly missed Zampa’s guile in the middle overs that has pulled back plenty of games for Australia.
Without Zampa, Australia had a monotonous bowling attack of seam bowlers. Brook scored 91 of his runs against pace. If the Aussie bowlers bowled too full, Brook dealt in boundaries. If they went short, Brook dealt in boundaries.
However, when bowled somewhere in the middle, the Yorkshireman’s strike rate dropped below 100. A majority of deliveries Brook faced were in that zone. But the right-hander saw them off, speaking for multiple aspects of his game versus pace – front foot, back foot and the ability to hold his own against good deliveries.
The narrative in the first ODI was that England’s set batters couldn’t carry on to make the difference while Travis Head scored a magnificent 154 for the Aussies. Brook reversed it here with only two of Australia’s six batters to get 20-plus managing a half-century. Meanwhile, Brook created the difference with a match-winning 110*.
It has been a home season of a few firsts for the right-hander. Early in the season, he brought up his first Test century in England, is captaining the team for the first time in only his third year in international cricket and now has an ODI ton too, as captain.
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