Head glad of all-round return in Australia’s series win over England

BRISTOL: Australia’s Travis Head was proud of his performances with both bat and ball as the world champions completed a 3-2 one-day series international victory over England thanks to a 49-run win in Sunday’s rain-marred finale at Bristol.

England were poised for a huge total at 202-2 in the 25th over as Ben Duckett (107) and captain Harry Brook (72) shared a century stand. But England then succumbed to spin as they collapsed to 309 all out, with Head’s occasional off-breaks yielding an ODI best 4-28.

“It’s always nice to get the job done for the team,” said Head, both the player-of-the-match and series. “We’ve got a lot of options with the ball and I am more than happy to help when I am needed.”

Head, in his primary role as a left-handed opening batsman, then made a brisk 31 during a blistering first-wicket stand of 78 in slightly more than seven overs with Matthew Short (58) as Australia looked to get ahead of the forecast bad weather.

And despite the umpires calling for a drinks break after 17 overs in cool conditions and a change of boots for paceman Matthew Potts, England did bowl the minimum 20 overs needed in the second innings for a result to be declared under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method. Four balls later, a downpour took the players off the field, never to return, with Australia well ahead of their DLS target at 165-2.