From Border’s win against the odds to Buttler’s announcement of a new era, the matches that have defined the limited-overs version of the rivalry
Andrew Miller18-Jun-20201975 World Cup semi-final, Headingley
After the shock and awe of a bruising Ashes winter, it was nibble and swing that ended England’s inaugural World Cup campaign. On an overcast day at Headingley, Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson ceded centre stage to the lower-octane talents of Gary Gilmour, a left-arm swing bowler with just two previous ODIs to his name. On a used wicket, his high-reaching action yawned through a transfixed England line-up – his unreadable induckers accounted for five of his six victims; a massive outswinger did for Tony Greig as he flashed an edge to Rod Marsh. England were routed for 93, and Gilmour’s figures of 6 for 14 in 12 overs remain the most economical haul of five or more in World Cup history. His day wasn’t done yet. England’s own quicks hit back in style and reduced Australia to 39 for 6. Enter Gilmour’s long handle. An uncomplicated 28 not out hauled Australia over the line. He’d follow up with another five wickets in the final at Lord’s, but West Indies prevailed, and he’d play just one more ODI thereafter.1987 World Cup final, Calcutta
It was a match made infamous by Mike Gatting’s reverse-sweep, although the focus on that moment of hubris, midway through a stiff but well-paced run-chase, detracts from the real story of the 1987 World Cup final – Australia’s rise from mid-decade ignominy, as they sowed the seeds of the world domination that would follow in the next two decades. Allan Border’s team had been a rabble for three years, but here was timely vindication for his alliance with Bobby Simpson, a captain-coach partnership that had won just two Tests out of 22 since being pitched together in 1986. It was a first taste of glory for a clutch of soon-to-be-world-beaters – David Boon, Steve Waugh and Craig McDermott among them – and the nearest miss of England’s three losing finals in the space of four tournaments. Australia were helped on their way by partisan support from a 90,000-strong Calcutta crowd, whose own team had had their hold on the trophy ended by England in the Bombay semi-final. The fact that Border’s men had unseated Pakistan at the same stage merely amplified the gratitude.Getty Images1992 World Cup group stage, Sydney
Utterly, utterly preposterous. Ian Botham was yesterday’s news as the 1992 World Cup drew nigh. A back operation had reduced his once-feared bowling to the dibbliest of dobblers, while his centre of gravity as a batsman had been brought low by a lifestyle that refused to defer to the march of time. He’d begun the winter as a pantomime character, literally, playing the King in Jack and the Beanstalk, and at the age of 36, his fabled career was deep into borrowed time. And yet, what Botham may have lost in athletic prowess, he retained in bluff and chutzpah – never more gloriously than with one final crushing blow for his oldest and most storied foes. Australia’s home campaign was already wobbling when Beefy rocked up with a Greatest Hits display in Sydney, claiming four wickets in seven balls, including that of a crestfallen Border, before galumphing to victory with a dismissive half-century. “It was amazing to see how frightened the Aussies were of him,” wrote Alec Stewart in his autobiography. “They played the reputation and were ridiculously tentative.”1997 bilateral series, 3rd ODI, Lord’s
Ben Hollioake is one of the most poignant what-ifs in English cricket. His death in a car crash at the age of 24 traumatised his team-mates, on tour in New Zealand at the time, and left a forever young sheen on a career for which the only real limit would have been his hunger to exploit an effortlessly natural talent. Just imagine him and Andrew Flintoff – born a month apart – blossoming at 5 and 6 in England’s awakening in the early 2000s. Instead, we are left to savour the glory of his international baptism. That ODI debut at Lord’s, at the age of 19, the third of a series in which England were already cresting a wave, 2-0 up and euphoric. Sent in at No.3, and drilling Glenn McGrath straight back down the ground to get off the mark. A fusillade of flogs through and over the covers left a rapt full house purring, then a gorgeous launch into the Tavern Stand put Shane Warne in his place too. He would never match that form for the rest of his all-too-short career. But until the day it ran out, the one thing Hollioake seemed he would always have on his side was time.Getty Images2002-03 VB Series 2nd final, Melbourne
By the early 2000s, the pretence of a rivalry was gone. England hadn’t held the Ashes for more than a decade. Their fortunes on the one-day front were, if anything, even more abject. Going into the second final of the 2002-03 VB Series they were in the midst of a 12-match losing streak against Australia, yet seemed to have found a back-door route to silverware with three overs remaining at Melbourne. Paul Collingwood and Flintoff were steadfast as England coasted towards a target of 225, needing 14 more runs to square the best-of-three final. But this era hadn’t simply been defined by English incompetence, there’d been a fair bit of Aussie brilliance too, and this time it was Brett Lee’s turn to wreck the joint. Nine blistering deliveries were all he needed to scalp the final four wickets; a first-ball stump-splinterer to Flintoff laid out the merciless terms of the surrender.2003 World Cup group stage, Port Elizabeth
If the Melbourne denouement had been a miserable experience, there was something even more galling in store at Port Elizabeth, in the first Anglo-Aussie World Cup clash since 1992. Once again, English hope sprung eternal as Marcus Trescothick and Nick Knight romped to 66 for 0 in nine overs. Once again, it was dashed, this time by Australia’s perpetual understudy. Andy Bichel would not have played had Jason Gillespie been fit. Instead, he put the ball on a string for figures of 7 for 20, the highlights being a pair of savage seamers to Michael Vaughan and Nasser Hussain. And then, after England had made an outstanding defence of a meagre target of 205, Bichel rocked up at 135 for 8 in support of Michael Bevan and turned the game on its head all over again. The decisive moment came in the penultimate over of the innings. Andrew Caddick had been outstanding in claiming Australia’s top four inside his first five overs. But sensing his length might be hittable at the death, Hussain trusted instead the wonder-balls of the rookie James Anderson. Bichel’s contemptuous slap into the St George’s Park scoreboard quickly informed him his instinct had been flawed.2005 NatWest Series 3rd match, Bristol
The mighty Ashes campaign of 2005 did not begin until the end of July. But the prologue would prove to be long and compelling, a perfect phony war in which every microscopic moment would be blown out of all proportion, and flung into an ever-bubbling melting pot. And by the third week of June, Australia were officially “in crisis”. They’d lost in a warm-up to Somerset (aka Graeme Smith and Sanath Jayasuriya on a Taunton stopover); they’d been routed for 79 in their first T20I against England; they’d been stunned by Bangladesh in a thrilling ODI in Cardiff. And now, they were up against England at Bristol, where a certain Kevin Pietersen was primed to inflict on the Aussies a scarcely credible four defeats in a row. At 160 for 6 chasing 253, he jettisoned all reticence and unfurled a full repertoire of haymakers, not least against Gillespie, who was never the same bowler again after bearing the brunt of a match-winning 91 not out from 65 balls. History records that Australia did recover their poise, but Pietersen’s starting berth in the Ashes was suddenly a no-brainer.Getty Images2005 NatWest Series final, Lord’s
It’s a wonder the two teams had any puff left for the main event. The NatWest Series final was a classic of its genre, a low-scoring riot in which the two teams rough-and-tumbled to a standstill, with scrapes, bruises and gouges all over their respective corpses. The match witnessed the last gasp of relevance for the mighty but knackered Darren Gough, whose desire to get one over his old enemy epitomised the growing national fervour, as well as a crucial display of grit from the often-maligned Geraint Jones, whose painstaking 71 rescued England from 33 for 5, in partnership with the no-less-committed Collingwood. Flintoff and Steve Harmison had bowled magnificently to leave England needing 197 for victory, but when Gough was run out from the penultimate ball of the match, with three still needed to win, it was left to Ashley Giles to scramble two leg byes off Glenn McGrath to scavenge a share of the spoils.2013 bilateral series, 4th ODI, Cardiff
In September 2013, England were still wedded to their old-school one-day approach – and not without some justification, having reached the final of that summer’s Champions Trophy. But with Alastair Cook absent, Eoin Morgan found himself at the helm for a contest that would serve as a pathfinder for the team’s future direction. Chasing 228, England’s challenge had crumbled to 8 for 3 thanks to a Clint McKay hat-trick, but was pieced back together by Morgan himself and Michael Carberry, whose doughty 63 would be his solitary half-century in a brief ODI career. When Carberry departed at 126 for 5 after 34 overs, England still needed 102 from 84 balls and looked ready to drown in their own reticence. Enter Jos Buttler at No.7, and soon afterwards, Ben Stokes at No.8 – two grossly under-utilised talents still awaiting their cue to be unleashed. Buttler took his that very day, crashing 65 not out from 48 balls to rip the contest back in England’s favour. McKay popped up in the penultimate over to dislodge Stokes for 25, but the pair had done the needful as victory was sealed with three balls to spare. It would take another two years for England to take the hint.2018 bilateral series, 5th ODI, Old Trafford
In the final countdown to their 2019 date with destiny, England’s transformed one-day players were beginning to believe they could win from any tight situation. And so, after they had eased to a 4-0 lead in an uncommonly one-sided series, there was absolutely no question of the fifth and final ODI at Old Trafford being dismissed as a dead rubber. England’s bowlers proved that point with aplomb, skittling the Aussies for 205 inside 35 overs, but that was just the start of the fun. Ashton Agar bowled Jason Roy in the first over, Billy Stanlake’s cloud-scraping seamers wrecked the middle order, and before England had found their poise, they were 114 for 8, with only Buttler remaining of the men who could make a difference. But with Adil Rashid standing firm for 16 overs, England chivvied, chipped and clattered a route back into the game, with Buttler trusting his team-mate but also his eye, with roughly a boundary every over to keep the required run-rate in check. His response to Rashid’s dismissal, with 11 runs still needed, was to reach his century from the very next ball with a massive six over long-on. He still needed Jake Ball to stand firm for ten agonising deliveries, before crashing Marcus Stoinis over the covers to seal a victory that was no doubt front and centre of England’s thoughts when they found themselves in a similar pickle on the biggest stage of them all.
