The ODI and T20I World Cup winners, England, are currently involved in a three-match One-Day International (ODI) series against Australia. In the recently-concluded opening game at Adelaide Oval on Thursday (November 17), England, after being invited to bat first, posted 287/9 runs on the board.
Though the visitors were in deep trouble, having lost four wickets for just 66, but number three batter Dawid Malan and captain Jos Buttler calmed things down. The duo added 54 runs for the fifth wicket before Buttler was dismissed. However, Malan stayed in the middle and went on to smash a brilliant hundred. He hammered 12 fours and four sixes during his 134-run knock off 128 balls.
The tally of Malan’s sixes could have been five, but an unreal effort from Ashton Agar saved a certain six. It all happened on the final ball of the 45th over bowled by captain Pat Cummins.
Cummins dropped it on the hard length, and Malan pulled in front of the square. It appeared that the ball would easily sail over the boundary for a maximum, but Agar showed his acrobatic fielding skills at deep mid-wicket. He jumped up, plucked the ball and threw it back in before crossing over the fence.
Here is the video:
That's crazy!
Take a bow, Ashton Agar #AUSvENG pic.twitter.com/FJTRiiI9ou
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) November 17, 2022
Notably, this series is part of England’s tour down under that began with a T20I leg in October, right before the T20 World Cup 2022. England had won the three-match T20I series by a margin of 2-0 and would definitely be aiming to replicate the same result in the ODI series as well. However, England’s hopes of whitewashing the Aussies is surely out of sight as they lost the opening game by six wickets.
