Coming out of a long hiatus from the game due to coronavirus, Australia have a made a great start to the season as they beat England 2-1 in the ODI series. For England, it marks the first bilateral series defeat at home since 2015.
In pursuit of the 303-run total, Australia were reeling at 73 for 5 in the second innings. England were on course to win another bilateral limited over’s side. However, a match-winning 212-run partnership between Alex Carey and Glenn Maxwell denied Australia a series win on Wednesday.
Glenn Maxwell scored 108 off 90 balls, while Alex Carey notched his maiden hundred as Australia won the game by 3 wickets. Glenn Maxwell, who engineered Australia’s victory, expressed his delight over the series win against England. He also hailed skipper Aaron Finch for backing him and clearly defining his role in the team.
“The really good thing is, even in the lockdown period, I was training with Finchy and we were able to talk about my role and certain things. I just had so much clarity on what he expected of me in that role and I think that gave me really good clarity out there. Just knowing I had the backing of him is awesome. He’s been great for this group over here, he’s kept us all together, all 21 of us in the hub here. Whether it be in the field or with his batters he’s been outstanding.”
Barring the series defeat, England had a pretty good season. They have been winning the tournaments consistently over the last couple of years. Maxwell reckoned that a series win against World-Cup winning side should be a morale booster for the side.
“To take them down on home soil when they have been playing pretty consistent cricket over here and for us to start our summer off after a long time in lockdown with a series win against them was pretty incredible for this group,” he said.
“We’ve worked so hard since coming together and it is just great that everyone could do the work back at home and when we got over here throughout the practice matches and training to get ourselves up to take on the world’s best and beat them on their home soil.”
