Courtesy: X
On Sunday, September 29, Ben Duckett, the England cricketer, brought up his second hundred in ODIs during the fifth and final match of the series against Australia at the County Ground in Bristol. The left-handed opening batter drove the ball from Glenn Maxwell towards the deep cover region in the 32nd over of the English innings, to achieve the three-figure score before celebrating it in style in front of thousands of fans in attendance on a cold and gloomy day in Southwest of England.
For the unversed, after Steve Smith, the stand-in captain of Australia, replacing Mitchell Marsh, put England into bat first, the hosts got off to an absolute flyer. The opening pair of Ben Duckett and Phil Salt scored 58 runs in just seven overs when the latter was dismissed for 45 off 27, an innings which included five fours and three maximums, following which Will Jacks was out without troubling the scorers.
Ben Duckett reached his second ODI hundred in just 86 balls against Australia in Bristol
The third wicket stand between Ben Duckett and captain Harry Brook was the defining one for England in the series decider with them adding 132 runs in just 16.2 overs, to put their team in a commanding position. After these two batters matched each other stroke for stroke, Harry Brook was dismissed for 72 off 53 with three fours and seven maximums, to help England get past 200 runs in just 25 overs.
But, from that point onwards, England kept losing regular wickets around Ben Duckett, who had slowed down a touch in his innings, but still, he reached his second ODI hundred in just 86 balls. Just five deliveries later, the left-handed batter, who had also scored his first ODI hundred in Bristol last year, was dismissed by Travis Head for 107 runs after smashing 13 fours and two maximums in his innings.
As of this writing, England have reached 261/8 total in 40 overs after six wickets in their innings have been shared by Adam Zampa, Glenn Maxwell, and Travis Head.
