ENG VS AUS 5TH ODI

And with that, we wrap up this series and also the grand summer of England. With wins over West Indies and Sri Lanka and a drawn T20I series against Australia earlier, this ODI series was the only series loss for them and they will take that. They would have gained a lot for the future and would be keen on building and developing these young stars along with a blend of experience. Australia will be happy to 'get away' without too much damage but they will honestly admit in secret that they need to introspect a lot into the talent pool. While England head overseas, Australia head back home for a grand summer of their own, starting with series against Pakistan before the big one against India comes up. We are done from Bristol, but you can keep checking our page for scores from different games. Hopefully, there will be players rather than groundstaff on Days 4 and 5 of the India-Bangladesh Test while do keep a watch out for the big tournament starting from October 3, 2024 - The Women's T20 World Cup. Until then, ADIOS! TAKE CARE!

Victorious series captain for Australia, MITCHELL MARSH, is all smiles, especially having won without him in the 5th ODI. Marsh says that England were on track for a big total and credits Steven Smith for pulling things back. On Australia having so many allrounders, Mitch says that allrounders are now a trend in world cricket and his team's allrounders don't let opposition batters settle. Hopes that it continues for some more time. On the series review, The Bison says that it was a good few weeks with the bowlers and batters doing well. On the next ICC event - the Champions Trophy, Marsh is desperate to win that but for the present, is eager to take on Pakistan at home first. Is happy for the young guys who made it to the international level from this tour, praising Aaron Hardie the most amongst the lot.

England's skipper, HARRY BROOK, HAS BEEN NAMED AS THE PLAYER OF THE SUMMER. Brook is happy to get some runs on the board and contribute to the team's cause. Admits that he has not been playing too much ODI cricket, so it means a lot more to him. On this 5th ODI, losing their way from 202/2, Brook says that they are trying to build towards bigger series with a new entertaining brand of cricket, which he believes has been done well. Adds that the bowlers taking wickets throughout has helped. On things working for England, Brook has a special mention for Ben Duckett, attacking the Australian bowlers, especially Adam Zampa. Shys away from the captaincy questions, saying that it was good but he would rather have Jos Buttler handle it for the time being. Clarifies about his earlier statement on how England want to play their brand of cricket, stating that he just wants to emulate Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum's saga from Test cricket into white-ball cricket.

TRAVIS HEAD HAS BEEN NAMED AS THE PLAYER OF THE MATCH AND SERIES. Head says that he did not expect to be bowling in the death overs and honestly says that he did not expect to be bowling too much, let alone the last few overs. Details with Glenn Maxwell in the side, he is not usually required to bowl but is happy to roll his arm over when required. Feels that it was a good series for him personally, admitting that Australia could have done better, but are reasonably happy with the series win. On a personal front, Travis says that he is enjoying his form now and only wants to keep contributing. Believes that Australia are in a good space with the white ball and hope to keep sharpening their skills. Is eager to spend some time with the family and then get ready for a big home season starting with the Pakistan series.

In reply, Australia were pretty confident and started off with their usual tonking-the-ball business through their openers. Again, they got a good opening stand but this time, they did not let the opportunity slip. With partnerships of 78, 40 and then an unbeaten 47, they ensured that there was no collapse. If this match had been played like a 50-over game, maybe the result could have been different. But England were caught in two minds - whether to play for the rain or try and stall the game - initially, they wanted a quick burst of wickets to push Australia way behind on the DLS par score. But then, Head and Short's barrage of boundaries left them shell-shocked, and then England tried too many things at one time. Brook tried to shake the concentration of Australia by constant changing of bowlers but instead, his own unit got unsettled. Please stay tuned for the presentation...

End of a bizarre game. England were skyrocketing with the bat, at 202/2, targetting 500 at the halfway stage, when a dramatic collapse saw them fold up for 309. While the Australian seamers got a pasting, the spinners hauled them back, in the most unlikely fashion. Adam Zampa had gone for 44 in his first 17 balls, before he eventually got Harry Brook and that turned the tide. What surprised England though, was Travis Head churned out 4 wickets which hurt them very badly. It laid to nought all the hard work put in by Duckett and Brook, with the former reaching his second ODI ton.

The final verdict is out. The umpires have seen enough with the rain forecast and decided that enough is enough. The 5th ODI has been called off after 20.4 overs in the second innings and AUSTRALIA HAVE BEEN DECLARED WINNERS BY 49 RUNS, VIA THE DLS METHOD. They take the series 3-2. Looking back at the Australian innings and given how close they were to seeing this being declared as a no result, one just wonders those 3.4 overs being bowled by Adil Rashid and 1 over by Will Jacks. The time taken to bowl 5 overs of spin is roughly 17-20 minutes while the pacers would have taken around 25 minutes to bowl the same set of deliveries! Had Brook not gone towards spin at all, who knows, this series could have ended 2-2 or Australia might have lost a few more wickets. But it is so easy to say in hindsight, isn't it?

Talking about Australia, they are in a strong position to win this series now but it has not been a good one for them overall. Barring the second ODI, their seamers struggled in each of the remaining games. They got lucky in the first ODI with England throwing it away while in this game, their spinners brought them back in the game. So fast bowling, which has been their strength, did not work for them much on this tour. Don't think they have any fresh resources in the bank or any experienced personnel missing. Marcus Stoinis and Pat Cummins are the only names which flash to mind but Australia will have to wonder what is going to happen once the big three - Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins retire - and in all likelihood, at the same time. Adam Zampa was way below his best in this series, so they need to work on a Todd Murphy or maybe a Tanveer Sangha for the future. Talking about the batting, it has done reasonably well but one would have expected the likes of Jake Fraser-McGurk to be given more opportunities. There is still quality left in that department but the bowling seems to be a big worry for now.

As we approach towards the end of this series, let's take a look at the future for both teams. Given that there has been plenty of talk regarding England's inexperience in this ODI series, who are the key personnel missing? One of them is surely Jos Buttler who should be back with them during the winter. The other name is Joe Root, who was not injured as such, but took a break, having had a hectic summer of cricket. Don't think Ben Stokes will make a white-ball return but there are cases for Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan and Jason Roy. On the bowling front, there will be room for David Willey, Reece Topley, Chris Jordan and perhaps one of the Curran brothers. So all is not gloomy for England in the white-ball format. It is all about picking the right players at the right time. Sometimes, they end up persisting with a few players for far too long and show lesser patience towards the others. This particular white-ball series has certainly done no harm for England's future. If any, such a strong showing has only made them look stronger, when some of their experienced personnel return.

The official cut-off time for this game to resume, is 6 pm GMT. Though I am not sure, for how many overs. We have already had 20 done and given this rain, the outfield would have got damp as well. England have the series on the line but they could be risking injuries to their own players if they show too much desperation to play. We are roughly 80-odd minutes from that phase but wonder for how long, will the umpires be patient, if the rain does not stop.

4.30 PM GMT UPDATE - Sadly, nothing new to update from Bristol. It continues to rain. We have got an update from Dubai though, as New Zealand Women have cantered to an 8-wicket win, against South Africa chasing down 93 in the 15th over. Melie Kerr and skipper Sohpie Devine helped themselves to some useful runs. In the Aus-Eng game, Alice Capsey has just been dismissed for 40 (34) and England are 96/3, needing 67 from 40 balls. In the WI-Ind game, the wicket flow has been stemmed but the Caribbeans are way behind the 8-ball. Chasing 142 for victory, WI are 42/3 after 8 overs. And finally, in Abu Dhabi, Paul Stirling has just been dismissed for 52 (31) and Ireland are 137/1 after 13 overs. 200 seems to be on there.

More updates from the cricketing world. Same country, the UAE, but a different section. Ireland and South Africa are playing the second of the 2-match T20I series in Abu Dhabi, the first one being pocketed easily by the Proteas. The second one has begun well for the Irish, as they have raced to 98/0 after 9 overs, with Ross Adair reaching his second T20I fifty. However, they will know from the last game that anything under 200 is not going to trouble South Africa much.

Okay. So what's left from the warm-up matches? Aahhh... West Indies vs India. On a difficult pitch to bat on, Jemimah Rodrigues' fighting 52 has taken India to a competitive 141/8, in a scorecard where only 2 batters crossed 20. West Indies were decent with the ball, with skipper Hayley Matthews again leading the charge with 4/17 in 4 overs. But the reply from the Windies has not been that great. India's new-ball bowlers have run riot and reduced West Indies to 22/3 at the end of the Powerplay. On slow pitches, it will be a challenge for the Caribbeans to play the Indian spinners.

4.10 PM GMT UPDATE - Scratch the previous update. The covers were indeed almost taken off and the umpires were due for an inspection but the weather gods seem to have got offended. Back comes the rain, back on come the covers.

Moving across to another venue, after a disastrous period for the last 12 months or so, New Zealand Women have begun brightly against South Africa. Leigh Kasperek and Melie Kerr took 3 wickets apiece and dismantled the Proteas for 92. Skipper Laura Wolvaardt was the only one who could cross 20, making 33. In reply, the White Ferns are in a strong position at 56/1 after 9 overs, with Kerr leading the charge with the bat as well.

4 PM GMT UPDATE - A little bit of positive news coming our way. By the looks of it, the groundstaff is working on the covers. Not quite sure whether the rain has stopped but it does appear that the wind is pretty strong, which is blowing the clouds away. Fingers crossed we get a resumption soon. Till then, let's delve into what is happening in Women's Cricket in the World Cup, which is about to kickstart from October 3. Starting with Aus-Eng, the females are in a much better position, having restricted Australia to 162/6 after 20 overs. The defending champions rode on Beth Mooney's 50 to get past the 150-mark. It seems like that pitch also is taking some turn but England will be happy so far. In response, they are 38/2 in the 5th over, losing their openers Maia Bouchier and Danni Wyatt cheaply.

For now, we play the waiting game, hoping for the game to resume. Australia and their fans would be very happy if that does not happen but from a cricket fan's point of view, let's hope that the game resumes at some point in time, albeit it will be a shortened one. Please stay tuned for updates.

It is not like England have not bowled well but perhaps they were too desperate for wickets. This is what happens when you have one eye on the clouds and are not fully focused on the job at present. The new-ball bowlers started well but then Olly Stone started to leak runs. Overs 3-6 yielded 62 runs and that prompted Harry Brook to ring in a number of changes - something which he would not have done, had the rain threat not been looming. That meant the bowlers never got set and Australia got the momentum. Even though England managed to dismiss Head, the damage had begun. Australia then resorted to playing Rashid out and got themselves so far ahead in the game that the required rate dropped down below 5.

Ian Ward on air states that as per the forecast, once the rain starts to fall, it will not stop. But cricket matches and results are not based on forecasts. Australia have played much better with the bat, compared to the 4th ODI. Short and Head got off to a 78-run stand, pretty much similar to what they did in Lord's. But crucially, here, Smith came out and ensured that there was no collapse. He added 40 more with Short and took Australia to a position of safety. For as long as one of the openers was out there, Australia was batting at nearly 10 an over, which has seen them go well ahead of the DLS par score. Even now, this current partnership between Smith and Inglis is three shy of a 50.

Ahh welll... a matter of a few balls! If the rain had come at 19.5 and play was halted, not to resume again, this would have been a no result. Miraculously, the rain held itself just long enough to allow 20.4 overs to be bowled in the second innings. The DLS score after 20.4 overs with 2 wickets down reads 116 for Australia, which means they are 49 ahead.