Australia will be looking to open England’s “scars” and close out the one-day series on Sunday, keeper Brad Haddin said after his team’s thrilling one-wicket victory over the luckless tourists in Brisbane.
Alastair Cook’s men have now lost the opening two one-day internationals which follow their demoralising 5-0 loss in the Ashes, despite coming desperately close at the Gabba on Friday.
Chasing 301 for victory, Australia looked finished at 244 for 9 with six overs remaining until all-rounder James Faulkner took to the crease and smashed 69 runs from just 47 balls to deliver the improbable win.
“That was an extraordinary finish last night; we were in no position to win that game until James hit the ball through cover on the last ball,” Haddin said.
England have now lost seven times in a row to Australia, including their thrashing by six wickets in the first one-day match in Melbourne, and Test vice-captain Haddin said there would be no mercy shown by the home side in the next game.
Asked whether England could bounce back, Haddin said: “I hope not.” Australia have the chance to close out the five-match series at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday by going to an unbeatable 3-0, “and that’s what we’re looking to do”, he said.
“We obviously go into every series wanting to win the series, and we’re hoping after last night we can open a few more scars a bit wider and finish it off in Sydney,” he said.
Faulkner’s heroics on Friday overshadowed a superb century from England’s Eoin Morgan, whose 106 earlier in the day came from 99 balls, while Chris Jordan dismissed Aaron Finch for a duck and removed David Warner for 18.
Part-time off spinner Joe Root then grabbed the key wickets of Michael Clarke (17) and Shaun Marsh (55) to put the visitors in control at 114 for 4 while seamer Boyd Rankin had George Bailey trapped in front for 24.
Tim Bresnan then struck twice in one over to remove Glenn Maxwell (54) and Haddin (26), leaving the home side lurching at 206 for 7.
“People say winning is a habit and so’s losing and I think that was no more evident than last night,” Haddin said.
“We probably lost wickets at crucial times and didn’t close out the game like we should have with the ball and no one in our top four went on and got a hundred, so from England’s point of view they probably did all that but we won the game.”
In good news for England, Morgan appears not to have suffered a calf strain and should be fit for Sunday night’s match and Stuart Broad is set to return to the side.
Asked how demoralised England seemed, Haddin said: “Obviously they won’t be feeling well but that’s not for me to judge.
“We were in a position last night where England probably batted, bowled and fielded a lot better than us and we won the game,” he said.
“We’ll obviously take a lot of confidence out of that leading into this game in Sydney.”
With the one-day World Cup in less than 12 months, every game mattered to the players, Haddin said.
“We are trying to put a squad together now… so we’ve given guys an opportunity to show their worth. It’s massive every game for us now because we are fighting for World Cup selection,” he said.
Probable XIs:
Australia: Aaron Finch, David Warner, Shaun Marsh, Michael Clarke, George Bailey, Glenn Maxwell, Brad Haddin, James Faulkner, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Clint McKay.
England: Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Joe Root, Gary Ballance, Eoin Morgan, Ravi Bopara, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Tim Bresnan, Chris Jordan, Boyd Rankin.
