What happened the last time England played Australia in an ODI in India?
Australia will battle it out against a struggling England outfit at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on November 4, 2023 in ICC ODI World Cup 2023.
A win will take the five-time world champions a step closer to qualifying for the semi-finals. The defending champions, on the other end, have been dismal, to say the least, in the 2023 World Cup.
Their only win in the tournament has come against Bangladesh and they have suffered massive defeats at the hands of New Zealand, Afghanistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and India. With pride at stake, England will look to turn their fortunes around against an Australian team that will be without Mitchell Marsh (who has flown home due to personal reasons) and Glenn Maxwell (injured) for the epic clash.
England and Australia have played three ODIs on Indian soil before. The first time was during the final of the 1987 World Cup at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata when Australia were crowned World Champions for the very first time.
The second time Australia and England played in an ODI in India was on October 19, 1989, at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, Hyderabad.
The last time England played Australia in an ODI on Indian soil was during the Champions Trophy in 2006. The said game was played at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on October 21, 2006.
Here is a look at what happened in the said ODI that was played more than 17 years back.
Australia beat England by 6 wickets
The Australian cricket team was at its dominant best during the 2000s. They won the Champions Trophy for the first time in 2006, the only trophy that had eluded the Men in Yellow during that time.
Australia won the toss and invited England to bat first on a tricky batting wicket. The English team was bundled out for a total of 169 despite the openers Andrew Strauss and Ian Bell adding 83 for the first wicket. Once Ian Bell was dismissed by Shane Watson , the entire English batting line-up collapsed and could only score 86 more runs before getting all out..
Mitchell Johnson and Shane Watson picked up three wickets apiece and the veteran Glenn McGrath picked up two wickets. Andrew Strauss was the top scorer (56) for England.
The English pacers James Anderson and Sajid Mahmood started on a positive note by picking up three early wickets. Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting and Shane Watson picked up three early wickets and reduced Australia to 34 for the loss of three wickets.
Damien Martyn steadied the ship with Michael Hussey with the duo adding 118 runs for the fourth wicket, before the former was dismissed for 78. Hussey and Andrew Symonds knocked off the remaining runs and Australia won the game with six wickets in hand and 13.1 overs to spare.