England suffer a ton of Paine

Nottingham (England), Sept. 18: Tim Paine scored his maiden international century as Australia inflicted fresh one-day misery upon England with a crushing 111-run win here at Trent Bridge, late on Thursday.

Victory in this day/night fixture left world champions Australia 6-0 up and on course to complete the first ever 7-0 clean sweep in a bilateral series in Sunday’s finale at Durham’s Riverside ground.

Paine’s 111 was the cornerstone of Australia’s 296 for eight as the holders continued to warm-up in style for next week’s start of the Champions Trophy tournament in South Africa.

England, chasing 299 to win, collapsed to 60 for four inside 15 overs. They were eventually dismissed for 185, with nine overs to spare as they suffered their 11th heaviest defeat, in terms of runs, in 517 one-day internationals (ODIs).

No England batsman made more than number eight Tim Bresnan’s 31 not out. Wicketkeeper Paine, an opener in the one-day format, reached three figures in only his seventh match at this level.

Together with Michael Hussey (65), Paine — who only made his one-day international debut against Scotland in Edinburgh last month put on 163 for the third wicket after the duo came together with Australia 40 for two.

After Ponting had called correctly to end Strauss’s streak of five straight toss wins, Anderson made a double breakthrough. He had Shane Watson playing on and then made it two wickets for seven runs in 16 balls when he had Ponting hooking straight to Ryan Sidebottom at deep backward square leg.

But England’s joy at removing Ponting for six, 120 fewer than he managed in Australia’s four-wicket victory here on Tuesday, was short-lived as his fellow Tasmanian Paine unfurled a fine array of strokes.

Brief scores: Australia 296 for 8 (Tim Paine 111, Mike Hussey 65, James Hopes 38; James Anderson 4/55) bt England 185 (Tim Bresnan 31; James Hopes 3/32, Brett Lee 2/48, Nathan Bracken 2/42).
Source::DC