Australia clinched a one-day series victory over England with a 49-run win at Southampton on Monday night.
Still smarting from the summer Ashes humiliation, Australia began the series determined to appease both fans and media Down Under, and although there is still a long way to go, they at least went some way to doing that by wrapping things up at the Rose Bowl.
A large chunk of the deciding victory was down to Shane Watson who smashed six sixes in his total of 143 from 107 balls, while Michael Clarke played a captain’s role with a solid 75 as Australia reached 298 before being bowled out with just five balls left.
England failed to make an impact in reply, apart from a sixth-wicket stand of 92 by Ravi Bopara and Jos Buttler. Mitchell Johnson was particularly hard to handle, grabbing two wickets and conceding just 21 runs in total from his 10 overs.
Johnson said afterwards that victory will put the whole squad in a much better frame of mind.
“I don’t know whether it will have much impact on the Ashes back home but we get the flight back home tomorrow a lot happier as a one-day side, certainly,” he admitted.
“The Ashes is still a way away but everyone is excited about that and the players are thinking about it already. But our focus has to be on the seven ODIs in India first.”
The first Ashes Test of the return series starts in Brisbane on November 21.
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