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11-Jul-2012 02:27:00 GMT
England v Australia, NatWest Series, 4th ODI, Old Trafford

Bopara Stars as England Make it 4-0

Manchester: England beat Australia by seven wickets to seal their 10th one-day win in a row and complete a 4-0 series victory.

Set a revised target of 138 from 29 overs, England got home with 11 balls to spare thanks to a stand of 92 between captain Alastair Cook (58) and Ravi Bopara (52 not out).

Australia had earlier been restricted to 145-7 from their 32 overs - the game originally shortened after rain delayed play until 17:30 BST.

The defeat completes a miserable tour for the visitors , who were spared the threat of a 5-0 whitewash when the third one-day international at Edgbaston was abandoned.

That denied England the chance to claim the clean sweep that would have taken them to the top of the world rankings, but Cook's men have the comfort of having now racked up 10 successive ODI wins - a team record.

Given England's poor one-day record both overseas and in World Cups, any potential climb to the top of the rankings would have come with questionable credibility, but their dominance over the current world leaders in this series has been total.

And, apart from a trio of dropped catches in the opening stages in Manchester, Cook's side were again far superior to the tourists.

Bowling first in helpful conditions, England - in the shape of James Anderson and the recalled James Tredwell - dropped Matthew Wade twice, before Samit Patel spilled an easy chance from David Warner on the third man boundary.

Tredwell, in the side as Tim Bresnan rested a sore elbow, made amends by pinning Warner lbw, as Australia capitulated.

In the space of 10 balls, Australia saw Peter Forrest run out diving to make his ground, Wade stumped running past one that turned from Tredwell and captain Michael Clarke run out by an Eoin Morgan direct hit.

On a pitch that offered carry to the pace bowlers, it was the off-spin of Tredwell and the medium pace of Bopara that then put the squeeze on Australia in the middle overs.

Bopara, whose bowling has often yielded bonus wickets for England throughout the series, had Steve Smith caught down the leg side from his first ball then enticed David Hussey to feather a catch through to Craig Kieswetter.

It was left to George Bailey to try and carry the Aussies to a respectable total.

With James Pattinson for support, he lifted Tredwell for six over long-on then repeated the dose to Anderson in the final over of the innings but, despite Bailey's 41-ball 46, the tourists looked well short of a competitive score.

Brief scores
Australia
145 for 7 (Bailey 46*, Bopara 2-8)
England 138 for 3 (Cook 58, Bopara 52*)
Result England won by seven wickets (D/L method)
MOM Ravi Bopara (England)
Man of the series Ian Bell (England)


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