BRISTOL, England (AP) — The rain arrived too late for England as Australia won the deciding fifth one-day international to clinch the series 3-2 on Sunday. Australia finished on 165-2 in 20.4 overs, appearing to be comfortably on track to reaching the original winning target of 310 before rain stopped play at Bristol's County Ground.
No further play was possible and Australia won by 49 runs under the DLS method which sets revised targets for interrupted cricket matches. Australia struggled with injuries and illness during the series, and fielded a different starting lineup in each game and a stand-in captain — Steve Smith — in the decider when Mitch Marsh withdrew because of soreness. “It’s certainly been a tricky series," Marsh said.
“But it’s just the calmness, our ability to stay present with the XIs we put out, that impressed me.” The teams entered the game tied at 2-2 and the match would have been abandoned as a no-result, with the series ending 2-2, if Australia had not batted for 20 overs — the minimum for a win to be declared. England could have stretched out the innings further had it not bowled four overs of spin but Harry Brook insisted his overriding ambition was on making inroads into the batting of Australia.
Brook saw the positives from an entertaining series. “We’ve got a lot of positives to take away from that,” said Brook, who filled in as England captain for the injured Jos Buttler in this series. “They’re the best team in the wo.