I was tied up with gigs yesterday for most of the third ODI between Australia and England, and therefore unable to report on progress of the game. But now I have to tell you that Australia lost the match and thus the series. This is the first home ODI series defeat in seven years.
England batted first and a Jos Buttler century powered England to 6-302. But when the Aussies batted they failed to lift the scoring rate when required, and thus experienced a 16-run loss with four wickets still in hand i.e. 6-286.
Australian skipper Steve Smith is in a bit of trouble with the match officials for slow over-rates, after Australia fell two overs short of completing them in the allocated three-and-a-half hours. Smith was fined 40 per cent of his match fee, but more crucially faces a one-match ban if his team fails to get through their overs again in the next year.