Head’s career-best 154 not out takes Australia to comfortable win over England

New Delhi, Sep 20 (IANS) Left-handed opener Travis Head slammed a career-best 154 not out and lead Australia to a comfortable seven-wicket win over England in the ODI series opener at Trent Bridge. The win coming in Adam Zampa’s 100th ODI appearance, where he took a three-fer, also propelled Australia to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

Asked to chase 316 for victory by England, Australia chased down the total with six overs to spare, with Head's 154 not out off 129 balls – his sixth ODI century - laced with 20 fours and five sixes - becoming the highest individual score by an Australian men’s player in England.

Marnus Labuschagne hit 77 not out off 61 balls with seven fours and two sixes, putting on a stand of 148 off just 107 balls with Head for the fourth wicket in an absolute run-fest at Nottingham.

The circumstances of Australia’s win came amidst many on and off-field obstacles. Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Glenn Maxwell were unavailable due to illness, while debutant Ben Dwarshuis strained a pectoral muscle in the field after bowling only four overs for figures of 1-18.

England opener Ben Duckett made a great impact with the bat through his awe-inspiring strokes before being tamely caught and bowled by Marnus Labuschagne for 95 (91). Labuschagne went on to grab 3/39 in six overs, his best ODI figures, as he claimed stand-in English skipper Harry Brook (39 off 31 balls) and Jofra Archer (4) late in the innings.

Will Jacks' 62 (56) and debutant Jacob Bethell's 35 (34) played roles in setting Australia a stiff target. In the chase, Head shared crucial partnerships of 76 with Steve Smith and 73 with Cameron Green before his match-winning stand with Labuschagne got Australia an easy win.

Brief Scores: England 315 all out in 49.4 overs (Ben Duckett 95, Will Jacks 62; Marnus Labuschagne 3-39, Adam Zampa 3-49) lost to Australia 317/3 in 44 overs (Travis Head 154 not out, Marnus Labuschagne 77 not out; Jacob Bethell 1-20) by seven wickets

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