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Following his side's massive 186-run win over Australia in the fourth ODI, England stand in skipper Harry Brook lauded his bowlers for "smashing the lengths beautifully" in a stunning bowling display that left arch-rivals helpless.
Following Brook and Liam Livingstone's hard-hitting knocks, the seamers Jofra Archer, Brydon Carse and Matthew Potts took the centre-stage, sharing nine wickets among themselves to guide England to another confidence-boosting victory that levels the five-match series 2-2 and sets up an exciting decider clash at Bristol. Speaking in the post-match presentation, Brook said, as quoted by Cricbuzz, "We have taken all the positives and the momentum we had from the first two games and brought them to the last two games." Brook went on to laud Ben Duckett and Livingstone for their knocks and emphasised the importance of putting pressure on bowlers at the right time. "Ducky (Duckett), we know how good he is, up top, he is unbelievably tough to bowl to. We know what Livi is capable of at the back end, and he showed it beautifully tonight. It is just identifying times when we need to put pressure on them more. If we get a boundary early on in the over, then we know that there is probably a chance to try and apply more pressure there. It is just picking and choosing your moments and making sure you execute," said Brook. Talking about his bowlers, he said, "They bowled beautifully. On an interesting wicket, we got a few too many over par, but they bowled beautifully, they smashed the lengths beautifully, and they got the rewards. He (Jofra Archer) was bowling quick tonight as well, it was good to watch with a bit of swing and seam movement, hopefully we can see that a lot more going forward. It is always nice to be scoring runs, you think a bit more clearly when you are playing well." Coming to the match, Australia won the toss and opted to field first. England started off with a fine 48-run opening stand between Phil Salt (22 in 27 balls, with three fours) and Ben Duckett. After a brief stumble, skipper Harry Brook recorded a 79-run partnership with Duckett (63 in 62 balls, with six fours and a six) and a 75-run partnership with Jamie Smith (39 in 28 balls, with a four and two sixes). Brook missed out on a well-deserved second-successive ODI ton, scoring 87 in 58 balls, with 11 fours and a six. Liam Livingstone (62* in 27 balls, with three fours and seven sixes) provided some brilliant finishing touches, smashing Mitchell Starc for 28 runs as England scored 312/5 in their 39 overs. Adam Zampa (2/66) was the pick of the bowlers. Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, and Josh Hazlewood got a wicket each. In the run-chase, openers Travis Head (34 in 23 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) and skipper Marsh (28 in 34 balls, with two fours and a six) provided a fine start with a 68-run stand. However, after their partnership was broken, it was all downhill for Australia who was skittled out for 126 in 24.4 overs, thanks to brilliant spells from Matthew Potts (4/38) and Brydon Carse (3/36). England levelled the five-match series 2-2 with a 186-run win. Brook secured the 'Player of the Match' award. (ANI)
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