Moeen Ali rattled the top order and Liam Plunkett polished off the tail as England bowled out Australia for 214 in 47 overs in the first ODI at Oval on Wednesday, denting Australian captain Tim Paine’s calls of a new era’ of Australian cricket before the start of the series.
Opting to bat first, Australia were jolted early by David Willey, who got Travis Head caught behind for 5. Finch and Marsh then shrugged off the early blues to get Australia going.
However, a masterful decision by England captain Eoin Morgan to introduce Moeen Ali in the ninth over of the game turned it towards the hosts. The off-spinner first drew Finch into a false stroke and got him caught for 19 and then saved his best delivery for Shaun Marsh.
Marsh played inside the line of the ball that spun ever so slightly off the wicket to hit his of stump.
There was no stopping Ali. He removed the newly-appointed Australian skipper Tim Paine for 12, reducing the visitors to 77 for four.
Making a comeback to the side, Maxwell, resisted the onslaught but had very little support from the lower order as they got rolled over by Liam Plunkett, who returned with three for 42.
Maxwell, who was horribly out of touch in the IPL, top scored with 62 from 64 balls.
It was a sorry looking return to limited overs cricket from Australia after the ball-tampering saga in March.