England vs Australia 2nd ODI: 5 talking points
England battled Australia in the 2nd ODI of their ongoing ODI series in England. While it was a low scoring affair at the Kia Oval, it turned out to be a run fest at Cardiff. England posted a mammoth total of 342-8 thanks to Jason Roy's brilliant 120 and Jos Buttler's late heroics of 91 not out. Australia were bundled for 308 in their chase but Shaun Marsh and co. did put up a fight. Marsh scored 131 runs before being bowled by Liam Plunkett.
After the two ODIs played between the arch-rivals it is fair to say England look the more confident one. Australia are playing their first series after the scandalous case which exposed three Aussies - Cameron Bancroft, David Warner and their skipper Steve Smith of being part of ball tampering. All three have been banned for 12 months from international cricket. The absence of these star players has hit cricket Australia hard.
Nonetheless, with ODI number 2 won handsomely by England, there is a lot to be talked about.
#5 England have a good selection dilemma
Jason Roy smashed 120 runs off 108 balls and won the Man of the match award deservingly. Jonny Bairstow has been in the form of his life scoring three centuries in the last five matches. Alex Hales hasn’t been on top of his game but his records speak for himself. With the middle order stacked up with the likes of Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes it looks likely England will have a selection headache for 2019 world cup.
Chris Woakes is England's best bowler and a handy allrounder as well meaning he will automatically slide back into this side once he comes back from injury. Same can be said about Ben Stokes.
This England side has gone from power to power since their world cup debacle in 2015. With more 300 plus scores than any other country in this period, they have adapted to the aggressive brand of cricket very well. In order to be genuine contenders for the world cup in 2019, they have to resort to their best 11.