Australia vs. England, 4th Tri-Series ODI: Highlights, Scorecard and Report

Australia booked their place in final of the Carlton Mid One-Day International Tri-Series with a three-wicket win over England.

A superb century from Ian Bell helped England post 303 for 8, but they were in all probability 30 runs short of what they should have got.

Steven Smith managed the chase superbly, racking up yet another century, as he and Mitchell Starc saw them home with one ball to spare. The record book may show it was a tight chase, but Australia were in control.

Australia skipper Smith sent England into bat in Hobart, seemingly of the opinion that the ball would do a bit at the Bellerive Oval.

Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

Smith could not have been more wrong, as the ball rarely deviated off straight and it made for glorious batting conditions.

Moeen Ali and Bell sized up the conditions fairly quickly and put on 113 for the first wicket.

Ali fell to James Faulkner and James Taylor swiftly followed, but Bell was set and he found an ally in Joe Root.

The England pair dominated the Australia attack and a quite superb 121-run partnership took England to a position of authority.

Bell was the dominant force and he racked up his fourth ODI century, as England powered on.

"

Watch highlights of @Ian_Bell's superb century today at Blundstone Arena HERE: http://t.co/YRofxF7KP4 #AUSvENG pic.twitter.com/11ISnzzNBn

— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) January 23, 2015"

It looked like it would take something special to get rid of Bell, and so it proved. Looking to ramp up the pace in the final 10 overs, Bell advanced down the wicket and attempted to smash Gurinder Sandhu over the top. The opener slightly miscued his shot, and Starc ran back from his spot at mid-off to take a fine, diving catch.

"

Mitchell Starc took a smart catch to dismiss Ian Bell for 141. pic.twitter.com/2vRZtPVCea

— PlayerzPot (@PlayerzPot) January 23, 2015"

Bell departed for a brilliant 141, and it was enough to take him past Paul Collingwood’s total of 5,092 and become England’s leading scorer in ODIs.

"

What a brilliant knock by Ian Bell this morning. He's playing very well at the top of the order & has forged a great partnership with Moeen.

— SMELLARD (@SamEllard88) January 23, 2015"

Having gone more than eight overs without success, Sandhu struck again two balls later to remove Eoin Morgan first ball—with the England captain edging behind to Brad Haddin.

Root, who had compiled an excellent 69, followed soon afterwards and the flurry of wickets halted England’s momentum.

With Root and Bell at the crease, England looked set for a score upwards of 330. However, the batting of the middle and lower order did not mirror that from the top.

"

England First 35 Overs: 205-2 England Last 15 Overs: 98-6 #AusvEng

— Freddie Wilde (@fwildecricket) January 23, 2015"

Australia secured a team hat-trick in the final Starc over, one bowled and two run out, as England were pegged at 303 for 8.

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Minutes	Balls
MM Ali	c sub (XJ Doherty) b Faulkner	46	68	48
IR Bell	c Starc b Sandhu	141	174	125
JWA Taylor	c Faulkner b Henriques	5	17	14
JE Root	c Finch b Cummins	69	99	70
EJG Morgan*	c †Haddin b Sandhu	0	1	1
JC Buttler†	run out (†Haddin)	25	37	24
RS Bopara	b Starc	7	22	16
CR Woakes	run out (†Haddin)	0	2	1
SCJ Broad	not out	0	1	1
Extras	(b 1, lb 4, w 5)	10
Total	(8 wickets; 50 overs)	303
Bowler	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
MA Starc	10	0	60	1
PJ Cummins	10	0	74	1
GS Sandhu	10	0	49	2
GJ Maxwell	3	0	22	0
JP Faulkner	10	0	59	1
MC Henriques	7	0	34	1

Australia’s openers took to the Hobart pitch in a similar manner to England’s, with Aaron Finch and Shaun Marsh batting with confidence and authority.

They did not look in any trouble, but the introduction of spin teased out a false shot from Finch who mowed across the line to Ali and lost his castle.

Marsh followed his opening partner back into the hutch a few overs later, with Bell taking a catch at backward point off Steven Finn.

Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

Finn struck again two balls later, with a wicked inswinging yorker trapping Cameron White lbw.

Glenn Maxwell joined Smith at the crease and they rebuilt the innings with a stand of 69, but the former went for a big hit off Ali and picked out Root on the mid-wicket fence.

Faulkner is viewed as the finisher in the Australia team, but he showed he had another dimension to his game by providing support to Smith in the middle of the innings.

Faulkner and Smith added 55 in a shade under 11 overs to keep Australia in the hunt, but he picked out Bell at point to give Chris Woakes his first wicket.

With 10 overs remaining, Australia required 74 runs to win—with the match firmly in the balance.

The game may have been in the balance, but Australia had the irrepressible Smith at the crease and he and Haddin kept the target within reach before cranking up the pace in the final six overs.

Haddin was the man who did the damage, with Stuart Broad and Finn both targeted, with his 29-ball 42 taking the game away from England.

Haddin fell with the winning post in sight, and Moises Henriques got stuck in a hole, but Smith and Starc sealed the win.

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Minutes	Balls
AJ Finch	b Ali	32		32
SE Marsh	c Bell b Finn	45		48
SPD Smith*	not out	102		95
CL White	lbw b Finn	0		2
GJ Maxwell	c Root b Ali	37		38
JP Faulkner	c Bell b Woakes	35		43
BJ Haddin†	c Bell b Woakes	42		29
MC Henriques	run out (Taylor)	4		11
MA Starc	not out	1		1
Extras	(lb 3, w 3)	6
Total	(7 wickets; 49.5 overs)	304
Bowler	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
CR Woakes	9.5	0	58	2
JM Anderson	10	0	56	0
SCJ Broad	9	0	61	0
MM Ali	10	0	50	2
ST Finn	10	0	65	2
RS Bopara	1	0	11	0

England are not down and out, as they know a win over India next week will be enough to see them into the final. But, with a World Cup looming, losing another tight contest will do nothing for their morale.