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Buttler is happy with his team’s win after losing the toss and praises Malan and Curran in particular. Malan, man of the match for his 82nd year, gives us the usual locutions about his pleasure at the team’s victory and his individual performance, having already given his talk in the middle.
“Sloppy,” says Finch when describing his team’s play; he thinks that decided the match. However, he praises Tim David, who he believes is turning into international cricket, although he acknowledges that the boys up front gave too much to the lower order. As for the bowlers, he feels lucky to have so many world-class options, and pretty much says today’s attack is his first choice.
“He’s an amazing guy,” replies Jonny. “He’s so calm … and a real sounding board for everyone in the team,” noting that he’s always in the circle and his presence, along with his experience doing so many different jobs, means Buttler can focus to maintain
Moeen, who batted very well today, tells BT that he and Malan agreed to “stay in the moment” and play with some patience. He praises Malan as the only batsman who timed it well from the first ball, and is satisfied that England managed to win despite facing Australia’s first-choice attack. Pakistan were big for the side, he says, noting that they have yet to get Livingstone back before shouting to Bairstow who he knows is in the studio. It’s a nice thing to do – imagine how Jonny feels listening to this, and what kind of sound it must be for one of his teammates to remember him immediately after a big win.
“Is Stokes really that good?” asks Nick Butler. “Do you agree with Curran but Stokes? I’m not sure, he’s only got one wicket, not sure it’s surprising is it? His stop on the boundary should probably have been a catch, shouldn’t it, if he had really fallen back on the rope as he should have.”
Ha, that’s really hard, you love to see it. I think I was in the right place going into it, and my opinion of its awesomeness is not based on individual events. True, he only got one wicket today, but it was that of Mitch Marsh, Australia’s leading run-scorer, and it came when he decided the match. I’m not even saying it’s an automatic choice, but I’m saying these things don’t keep happening by accident, to me, obviously.
Two excellent performances from England tonight, Dawid Malan with the bat and Sam Curran with the ball and in the field. They look very strong but Australia are also decent, I mean I have no idea who will win the World Cup because the standard and the format is such that you don’t know.
For your reading pleasure.
England beat Australia by eight runs to take the series 2-0 with a game to play!
19.6 over: Australia 170-6 (Wade 10, Cummins 18) Target 179 Wade makes it two legs, and that’s it!
19.5 overs: Australia 167-6 (Wade 8, Cummins 18) Target 179 Cummins hard down the ground for one, and England win the match and the series!
19.4 over: Australia 167-6 (Wade 8, Cummins 17) Target 179 Wade tries but with the splice and they run one. Australia need six in a row to win…
19.3 overs: Australia 166-6 (Wade 7, Cummins 17) The target 179 Cummins smashes down the ground, there is confusion and they can only manage one. Australia need 13 from three.
Updated at 12.48pm BST
19.2 over: Australia 165-6 (Wade 7, Cummins 16) Target 179 Cummins pulls for two. Australia need 14 from four…
Updated at 12.49 BST
19.1 over: Australia 163-6 (Wade 7, Cummins 14) Target 179 England have arrived in time, so they have an extra man outside the circle… and Cummins hits a full toss over deep backward square for six!
19th over: Australia 157-6 (Wade 7, Cummins 8) Target 179 Topley mixes it up well, his first four balls yielding two from one and two from two as he picks up the pace. Three runs come from the last two balls, and Australia will need something crazy off the last over – I think Curran will deliver. Australia need 22 from six.
“I feel the need to point out,” emails Geoff Wignall, “that the best drunk screen performance was Pete Postlethwaite alone in a broom closet in The Sins. Fact, not opinion.”
I haven’t seen it, but now I have to, and I wish we had come across this riff when there was more to go.
18th over: Australia 148-6 (Wade 4, Cummins 2) Target 179 I said time and I meant it, but I think what I really meant was intelligence; he predicted what David would do and was calm enough to execute it. That, you might think, settles the match, more so when the remaining four balls yield just two singles and a leg-bye. Curran is 3-12 from three and Australia need 31 from 12.
Updated at 12.44pm BST
WICKET! David b Curran 40 (Australia 145-6)
Sam Curran is a joke! David moves outside off, but Curran was ready for him, an inswinging yorker that he bowled round his legs! Time!
Tim David loses his portal. Photograph: Jason McCawley/CA/Cricket Australia/Getty Images
Updated at 12.44pm BST
18th over: Australia 145-5 (David 40, Wade 4) Target 179 Here comes Curran…
17th over: Australia 145-5 (David 40, Wade 4) Target 179 Jordan is back, not just to try and finish it off, but to argue his inclusion when we get down to the nitty gritty. He starts well too, his first three deliveries were taken for one and a two; Australia badly need a boundary…and they get one as David hits deep square, Willey dives to stop but after several replays he is shown to have caught the rope and the ball takes his thigh AND WATCH NOW! David has some serious leverage, and he goes down the tracks to annihilate a six-story roof and into the hands of a diving spectator! This game isn’t over, and Jordan has to respond… which he does, an offside rebound that keeps David at one, outmuscled to cover. Australia need 38 from 18.
“Our friends up north,” says Dave Brown. “I forgot how good it is after I picked it up again. And Daniel Craig probably plays the best drunk ever. Steve McFadden comes in second.”
Ha! I didn’t love Craig’s performance, but I loved the ambition of it all – the BBC spent half their budget for the year making it.
16th over: Australia 131-5 (David 27, Wade 1) Target 179 Topley is back but I can’t stop thinking about Stokes and Curran – what is it about these two that makes them so good? Stokes is easier to understand, he’s just good at everything, but still, that doesn’t explain why he’s so effective when his team really needs him. Curran, on the other hand, isn’t that good, but somehow every team, even one you’re not sure he’s good enough to be on, is better with him. Their mentality – the desperation for the ball to come to them, then their furious composure when it does – is a rare and precious thing. Anyway, back in the middle, after two sand singles out wide, David clears a full one for four through extra, and although three more follow, it just doesn’t feel like enough at this point. Australia need 48 0ff 24.
15th over: Australia 120-5 (David 19, Wade 1) Target 179 Wade gets away with one, then David flicks a poor delivery around the corner for a much-needed four. Stokes, however, responds as well as one would expect, his last two balls conceding just one. Australia need 59 from 30.
WICKET! Marsh c Curran b Stokes 45 (Australia 114-5)
You just can’t argue with golden arms! Buttler brings Stokes back and Marsh goes after his slacker, carting to deep square… when Curran waits, lunging forward to sweep! These two are ridiculous (their timing and temperament is just a joke) and England are huge favorites now, the difference is their superior fielding! I know!
14th over: Australia 114-4 (Marsh 45, David 14) Target 179 This is getting very tight, the rate of 11 an England would certainly like to hit. Ceej comes back, and Marsh forces his first delivery to point for two; the pitch goes in and there’s a call for an out, but it’s not close. A single follows, then a ball without… what we see is indeed a ball; David finishes so harshly when faced with the free hit that you half expect to see his shoulder disappear for a long time, but he doesn’t get it all and Jordan launches into his own bowling, testing the recovery of his fingers by punishing- those with pain. Marsh, however, causes a far worse pan, creating a poor delivery down the ground for a four that not even a diving Stokes can cut. Australia need 65 from 36.
13th over: Australia 104-4 (Marsh 37, David 13) Target 179 David has no tie to lose, so he glances at a delivery and then burns Rashid back to the cover fence before punishing him down the ground for month. ! Two twos follow, although the second one is a close one, the ball falling just short of Willey in the deep. Rashid is done, his four overs conceding 0-38 and his last wicket for 12.
“For people who don’t know the CJ reference,” emails John Starbuck, “David Nobbs’ The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin is currently on Freeview’s That’s UK TV. Nostalgia huh?”
Also, Our Friends in the North is currently on BBC4; it is still very moving in its social analysis.
12th over: Australia 92-4 (Marsh 37, David 1) Target 179 I wonder if this wicket will be the difference in this match. Sam Curran can sometimes be difficult to fit into a team, but he is still essential to a team/
WICKET! Stoinis c Brook b Curran 22 (Australia 91-4)
Sam Curran does it again! Stoinis briefly gives it the treatment it deserves, except straight punches to Brook, who comes out of the deep square fence, and makes a Tester look simple, forward. Could England’s best catch decide this match? What words to write!
12th over: Australia 91-3 (Marsh 37, Stoinis 22) Target 179 Oh my, you can’t keep…