"Death. Taxes. An England batting collapse in Australia" - Twitter reacts as the visitors stumble to a 72-run loss to concede series
England were beaten by a mammoth 72-run margin by Australia in the second ODI on Saturday, November 19. Captained by Moeen Ali, the defending World Cup champions were bundled out for 208 by hosts Australia.
England were well-placed in their 281-run chase against the Aussies, with the team positioned at 156-3 at one point. However, the collapse was triggered immediately after, with Australia winning the game by 72
England did well to recover from a poor start. A fiery first over from Mitchell Starc left them reeling at 2/2. James Vince and Sam Billings stitched a 122-run partnership to give England hope in the run chase.
However, Australia managed to pick up three important wickets in 13 deliveries, courtesy of Adam Zampa, which swung the game back in favor of the hosts.
Despite being hit for back-to-back boundaries by England's stand-in captain, Zampa managed to remove Ali and Billings, who top-scored for the guests with 71.
England's final seven wickets fell for just 52 runs. Here are some of the reactions on the social media platform:
Death. Taxes. An England batting collapse in Australia #AUSvENG
England lost last 6 wickets for 40 odd runs... That's some collapse...
#ENGvsAUS
Can’t beat a good England batting collapse #ENGvsAUS
England batting collapse? In Australia? Seen that before.
After getting a head of the game with a great partnership England collapse like a deck of cards game over at this rate
Ahh the England batting collapse, how we have missed you
Well that was suicidal batting. Another first class England Batting Collapse 😂😎
@englandcricket England can only win in the watered down popcorn T20 entertainment format. Play some real cricket and we collapse 🤷♂️
Is this England or Pakistan? Totally unnecessary collapse
@norcrosscricket I’ve been up since 6am this morning.
The early bird gets … to watch England collapse!
@bbctms @BBCSounds @BBCSport How many times have I read "It's a series win after an England batting collapse." in recent years?
Australia won the match by 72runs against England
Steve Smith 94(114)
Mitchell strac 4/47(8)
Adam zampa 4/45(9.5)
#AUSvENG #AUSvsENG #ENGvsAUS 2nd ODIs https://t.co/16FcGCjFDs
ODI Wins Against Australia in in last 2 Years:-
ENG & NZ:-1(9)
ZIM-1(3)
#AUSvENG
Australia secure an unassailable 2-0 lead over England with a game to spare
On the back of their comfortable win in Sydney earlier today, Australia now have an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the three-match ODI series.
This marks the second consecutive ODI series that the visitors are losing to their arch-rivals, having lost 2-1 in 2020. Their last triumph comes in the form of a memorable 5-0 series win over Australia at home in 2018.
Starc won the Player of the Match award for his brilliant bowling figures of 4-47. Hazlewood's career as a captain got off to a flying start with a win in his first game as skipper.
The next ODI will be held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Tuesday, November 22.
Will Australia secure a whitewash over England to kickstart their home season in style? Let us know what you think.