England fall short by 10 runs

Mark Waugh and Ricky Ponting were not deterred and the runs came quickly until Vince Wells claimed both wickets.

Wells then completed the treble by having Darren Lehmann caught at mid-on. Bringing Wells on early was a gamble as he is an unfashionable cricketer who hadn8217;t bowled a lot in the preliminary matches. But he is a player with heart.

A player withenormous hand-eye co-ordination is Michael Bevan and he fully utilised those skills in playing yet another valuable innings.

The other success for England came from another medium-pacer and a quiet achiever, Mark Ealham, who also took three wickets.

England were going to have to bat well to achieve victory as there was a bit in the pitch after all the rain in Sydney and Warne8217;s decision to bowl second had been vindicated.

Stewart got England away to a fast start with four boundaries in succession off Glenn McGrath, but he then got involved in a verbal battle with the fast bowler and was out at the other end a couple of balls later.

England also lost Nick Knight, but Graeme Hick and Nasser Hussain settled in to a good partnership, until there was hesitation in the running and Ricky Ponting produced his fourth direct hit of the series to claim a run out.

That brought Wells to the crease and he played positively, striking well while his partner struggled to find his timing.

It only required a coolhead for England to cruise home, but Hussain panicked and tried to hit Warne out of the ground, missed and was stumped by a metre. Next delivery, Warne claimed a fortunate lbw, then missed the hat-trick, but Wells was caught in the deep when Brendon Julian ran 30 metres to take a brilliant catch. In a disastrous period England had lost three wickets in seven deliveries, as the ball beat the bat more often than contact was made.

Australia had won a game that seemed lost, but they paid a price as player of the match Bevan is out of the series with a finger badly dislocated while fielding. Despite his absence, England will find it hard to recover from a soul-destroying loss.

SCOREBOARD

AUSTRALIA: Mark Waugh c Stewart b Wells 42, Adam Gilchrist b Gough 29, Ricky Ponting c Stewart b Wells 10, Darren Lehmann c Mullally b Wells 19, Damien Martyn c Stewart b Ealham 21, Michael Bevan not out 69, Shane Lee c Fairbrother b Ealham 12, Brendon Julian c sub B Hollioake b Ealham 12, Shane Warne b Gough 9,Adam Dale not out 1; Extras lb6, w1, nb1: 8. Total for eight wickets: 232.

Fall Of Wickets: 1-40, 2-67, 3-98, 4-115, 5-139, 6-176, 7-199, 8-222.

Bowling: Gough 10-0-43-2 1nb, Mullally 7-0-42-0, Vince Wells 10-2-30-3, Ealham 10-0-45-3 1w, Croft 5-1-28-0, A Hollioake 8-0-38-0.

ENGLAND: N Knight b Dale 22, A Stewart c M Waugh b Dale 27, G Hick run out 42, N Hussain st Gilchrist b Warne 58, N Fairbrother c Gilchrist b McGrath 8, V Wells c Julian b Lee 33, A Hollioake lbw b Warne 0, M Ealham c Gilchrist b McGrath 4, R Croft not out 12, D Gough b McGrath 0, A Mullally b McGrath 7; Extras lb3, w2, nb4 9. Total in 49.2 overs 222

Fall Of Wickets: 1-34, 2-67, 3-114, 4-131, 5-198, 6-1987-198, 8-204, 9-204, 10-222

Bowling: McGrath 9.2-1-45-4, Dale 10-0-33-2, Lee 7-1-29-1, Warne 10-0-40-2, Julian 4-0-28-0, Martyn 6-0-27-0, Lehmann 3-0-17-0.

RESULT: Australia won by 10 runs to lead 1-0 in the best-of-three series.