Jofra Archer excellence precipitates dramatic Australia collapse... ENGLAND V AUSTRALIA TALKING POINTS

NICK FRIEND: For a long while, Australia looked to hold all the aces. But once Chris Woakes dismissed Marnus Labuschagne and Archer bowled Mitchell Marsh, England - led sublimely - pulled off a tremendous heist

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Jofra Archer's finest hour?

This might be as well as Jofra Archer has bowled for England in a single game. When Eoin Morgan’s side had batted on the same surface just hours earlier, it had looked slow and stodgy. Only a late onslaught from Adil Rashid and Tom Curran had given the home team a score to defend.

And so, Archer was cranked up and unleashed; this was fast bowling par excellence: a mixture of brutal, hostile aggression and high-class skill.

First, he maintained his stranglehold on David Warner, whose struggles continue. His dismissal felt almost inevitable; all of his last four innings have been ended by Archer who, once on a roll, has an insatiable appetite for dominance.

Marcus Stoinis replaced Warner and was clear in his game plan, attempting to force himself inside the line of Archer’s bouncer, which so often ducks in off the seam. His stock action was to bunt the ball off his ribcage into the leg-side and escape to the non-striker’s end – the best place, after all, from which to face genuine fast bowling.

Finch, meanwhile, was struck on the head so hard that the ball flew away for a one-bounce four – inches from the rarity of six leg-byes. It was an omen for what was to follow; when Stoinis found himself back in Archer’s line of fire, he could only fend straight up in the air for Jos Buttler to catch.

Stoinis is no mug with the bat and has been in decent form, but he was made to look like a rabbit in the headlights once Archer was at full tilt.

Often in this summer of empty stadia, it has been difficult to gain a true sense of atmosphere out on the ground – the silence at times usurping the drama of the action. It was impossible not to watch this spell and imagine the roars of a baying crowd, willing on their man in a quite remarkable display of athleticism and ability.

When he was called back as a last resort with the game - and series - angling towards Australia, it was Archer who gave England their second wind. While it was Chris Woakes who dismissed Marnus Labuschagne, Archer followed it up by forcing Mitchell Marsh to drag onto his stumps. It was his aura that precipitated what followed.

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Aaron Finch was bowled by Chris Woakes during an extraordinary passage of play

A collapse for the ages and Eoin Morgan at his best

It was all going so well for Australia at 142 for 2. Five overs later, carnage: 149 for 6. Labuschagne was trapped in front, before Marsh, Aaron Finch and Glenn Maxwell were all bowled in a 21-ball salvo from Woakes and Archer, both of whom were world-class when it mattered most.

Morgan, too. The game felt as though it was trickling towards an inevitable conclusion until he flicked the switch. Australia were serving for the match, and England had one final opportunity to break back.

The captaincy was perfect, the timing exquisite. If he had left it any longer, it would have been too late. Dice rolled, chips all in. Archer and Woakes were bowled out, having bulldozed their way through what had – for a period – seemed like an impenetrable wall.

As it was, Finch and Labuschagne knew they had one job left to do – to see off England’s most potent pairing on the evening, their best bowlers on this curious up-and-down surface. Earlier in proceedings, England had lost wickets in clusters: 20 and 29; 90, 107 and 117; 140, 143 and 149.

A difficult pitch on which to start, Finch knew his obligation as captain and opening batsman. Short of two missed runout attempts, his had been a chanceless, calming innings. But when he fell, the door swung open for England.

England’s batting depth comes to the party

For all the talk of England’s batting depth, it has rarely been needed in recent times in ODI cricket. And when it has been, it hasn’t always fired – perhaps a consequence of the dominance of those above them and the relative lack of meaningful opportunities to contribute.

And so, if there was a major positive for England to take from their batting, then it might just be the partnership between Tom Curran and Adil Rashid – a stand that gave impetus to a tremendous, match-winning fielding display.

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Earlier in proceedings, Adil Rashid and Tom Curran had put on an invaluable 76-run stand

Coming together at 149 for 8, they added 76 runs for the ninth wicket in just nine overs – with 53 coming in the last four.

Rashid, a scorer of ten first-class centuries, made 35 – his highest ODI score since 2015, the first time he has passed 22 since 2017.

Only five times in a nine-year career has Woakes made more than 26 in a home ODI.

A commitment to tougher pitches

With next year’s T20 World Cup in India and the 50-over tournament in the same country two years later, Eoin Morgan spoke ahead of this series about England’s need to improve on tougher, slower surfaces, where run-scoring might become a cuter art than the gung-ho bludgeoning that characterised their ascent to No.1 in the world.

On this evidence, there is some way to go. Australia’s fine bowling attack notwithstanding, England’s last two innings have been challenging, opening up reminders of old vulnerabilities, their turgid starts reminiscent of previous eras.

They have not been helped in this series by the fact that none of their top three – Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root – look quite at their best, nor of course by the quality of Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins.

At one stage, Root had used up 28 balls for three runs, before finally falling for 39 off 73 deliveries. In the first game, Bairstow, though he made 84 in the end, began similarly.

Stuart Broad – impressive on commentary – spoke about the balance that England must look to strike: that although they are right to look ahead to global tournaments down the line, they must not discount the here and now.

One of England’s major strengths under Eoin Morgan’s leadership has been, quite simply, consistency of results. In Ed Smith’s tenure as chief selector, they are still yet to lose a bilateral series on home soil.

And so, while they are surely right to cast their focus ahead to planning a defence of a trophy they hold, they must be equally careful that one does not completely come at the expense of the other.

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