:') I bloody love you.
Australia won the toss and chose to bat.
Australia 277-7: M Hussey 79, S Marsh 59. S Broad 4-64, G Swann 3-32. (50.0 overs)
England 235 all out: P Collingwood 95, T Bresnan 34. S Tait 4-49, S Smith 2-49. (46.3 overs)
Australia win by 42 runs.
Series: England win 3-2.
Man of the Match: Shaun Tait (Aus).
The series ended on Saturday with a series win. However, the series also ended with a match loss. Again. I really could not stand the smugness on the Australian's faces. I still don't understand how we could outperform them SO MUCH in the first two games, narrowly beat them in the third and get totally outclassed in the batting for the last two.
The match started well with Paine going easily and then Watson giving his wicket away. Ponting went for a cheap wicket again with the ball bouncing off his glove and being caught behind by Kieswetter. Clarke was taken out of the squad due to a back injury so White came in at four. I was starting to think the series was wrapped up at 4-1 and I knew that if we could get more wickets then a win would be on the cards. However, I completely under estimated Shaun Marsh and 'Mr Cricket' Mike Hussey! I haven't seen Marsh bat for a long time so I'd completely forgotten what he could do! They both batted extremely well before they were both caught by Jimmy Anderson and the innings were over. Australia set 278 to win and I was quietly confident that today we would bat well enough to get there.
Straussy and Craig came out and I seriously thought - OK, they ARE going to have a good day today, Craig has been pretty bad with the bat this series. But then when Tait bowled that 100.1mph ball at Craig I knew this would be tough! Straussy was bowled and then for some completely unknown reason - YARDY was sent out. I know KP was injured and couldn't come on for 45 minutes but Colly should have come in to settle the innings down. Yardy was clean bowled by Tait once again - I can't stand the man, but wow can he bowl! I'm so glad he's not a cert for the Ashes yet. Kieswetter went for just 11. He's my favourite player but he really has been bad, I think he needs more practice. He has however, been fantastic with the gloves and I'm very proud of him for that. KP came out after Morgan's departure with a fantastic catch by Shaun Marsh! Colly made a great 95 and had a good partnership with Bresnan but once Bres was run out by Punter, one of the greatest fielders around, I knew it was over. Swanny's big hitting towards the end of the innings was good entertainment but I could tell it was only a matter of time.
This series has been highly enjoyable and for that I'm very thankful to both teams. It was an absolute pleasure to see Tait bowl 100mph, and I'm sure I won't forget seeing that live anytime soon. The boys getting the trophy was actually hilarious. I love them all so so much. The Aussies have a little bit of confidence going towards the Ashes now, and I know that they are at home this Winter, but I wouldn't discount England just yet.
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