England’s Billings hits ton but Hazlewood’s bowling heroics give Aussies win

Australia fast bowler Josh Hazlewood insisted it was a case of “onwards and upwards” after he starred in a 19-run win over world champions England in the first one-day international at Old Trafford on Friday.

Hazlewood took a miserly 3-26 from his maximum 10 overs that stifled England’s pursuit of a target of 295 from the outset, removing opener Jason Roy and Test skipper Joe Root for single figure scores as the hosts limped to 22-2 off the first 10 overs.

This was Australia’s first 50-over match against England since a crushing eight-wicket defeat by their arch-rivals in the semi-finals of last year’s World Cup at Edgbaston.

Hazlewood, however, didn’t play in that match after being controversially omitted from the World Cup squad, with the selectors instead wanting him to regain full fitness following a back injury for the subsequent Test series in England, where Australia retained the Ashes in a 2-2 draw.

Asked if the way he bowled on Friday made his World Cup absence all the more painful, Hazlewood replied: “Nah it’s onwards and upwards. That’s a long time ago now, so always looking forward.”

The 29-year-old was close to unplayable during a stunning opening spell of two wickets for five runs in six overs.

“England’s top order has probably been the form top order in the world in the last three or four years, so I guess going against them is a good measure of where you’re at,” Hazlewood said after what was just Australia’s third win in 14 ODIs against their oldest foe.

“To keep them down to 20-odd for two in the first 10 was great.”

Meanwhile,  England’s Sam Billings hopes his maiden international hundred will be a springboard into tournament cricket after he missed out on last year’s World Cup triumph through injury.

The 29-year-old Kent batsman made an impressive 118 against a top-class attack during England’s 19-run defeat by Australia in the first one-day international at Old Trafford on Friday. Yet such has been England’s white-ball strength, this was just Billings’s 19th ODI in a five-year international career.

Even so, he may have still found a place in England’s victorious World Cup squad last year had he not dislocated a shoulder at the start of the season, leaving the way open for James Vince to take the place of reserve batsman. But with two T20 World Cups and England’s defence of their 50-over title coming up between now and 2023, Billings still has ambitions to lift major international trophies.

He did his cause no harm against an Australia attack featuring the formidable pace trio of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood as well as in-form leg-spinner Adam Zampa. England were in dire straits at 57-4 chasing a target of 295 when Billings came into bat. But he held his nerve after managing just 11 runs from his first 32 deliveries before demonstrating a fine technique and plenty of match awareness in an eventual 118 off 110 balls that included 14 fours and two sixes.

England finished on 275-9, but that they took the match to the last over was a credit to Billings’s refusal to give his wicket away early in his innings.

Australia star batsman Steve Smith meanwhile is set to undergo a fresh concussion test before the second one-day international against England at Old Trafford on Sunday. Smith missed Australia’s 19-run win in the first of a three-match series against world champions England after being hit on the head by a throw-down from a member of the tourists’ coaching staff while batting in the nets on Thursday.

An Australia spokesman said Smith was being rested as a precaution despite passing a concussion assessment and would have another such test on Saturday.

Agence France-Presse

Brief Scores: Australia 294 for 9 (Maxwell 77, Marsh 73, Wood 3-54) beat England 275 for 9 (Billings 118, Bairstow 84, Hazlewood 3-26) by 19 runs