1:06 PM
Farhan
Marsh's second ODI ton saw the home side recover from 33 for four and then 142 for eight to post 230 all out. In response England were reduced to 184 all out, with Doug Bollinger claiming four for 28 to add to his batting contribution of 30 runs as Austalia took a two-nil series advantage in the seven-match affair.
Rain on Friday morning in Hobart had threatened to delay the start of play, but by the sun emerged and the action got underway as scheduled. England made two changes to their side from Sunday's opening ODI at the MCG, while Australia brought in three new players with the dust settling on the World Cup picks of the past week. For the tourists Matt Prior took the gloves from Steven Davies, while the injured Graeme Swann was replaced by James Tredwell. For Australia Nathan Hauritz, Shaun Tait and Marsh came in for Xavier Doherty, Mitchell Johnson and Mike Hussey respectively.
On winning the toss Andrew Strauss opted to take advantage of the early movement available at the Bellerive Oval, with his opening pair of bowlers vindicating his decision.
Ajmal Shahzad (three for 43) and Chris Tremlett (three for 22) were clinical with the new ball as Australia crept to 21 for three after the first 10 overs. Shahzad struck twice to dismiss both opening batsmen in similar fashion, with dangerman Shane Watson first to go and Brad Haddin following soon after, both batsmen edging onto their own stumps.
A bowling change brought further success for England, with Tim Bresnan's first over yielding the wicket of Michael Clarke for 10. The Aussie skipper's horrid run of form continued with the first bad ball of the day, cut straight into the grateful hands of Ian Bell at point. Tremlett was rewarded shortly after with his first wicket of the day, Dave Hussey snared by a fine Andrew Strauss catch, as the home side found themselves in a heap of trouble at 33 for four.
Cameron White, made to battle a nasty blow to the fingers, was uncharacteristically reserved as he went about rebuilding the innings with number-six batsman Marsh. The left-handed Marsh missed out on World Cup selection earlier this week but his impressive Big Bash form was enough to earn him a call-up for the ODI series in place of the injured Hussey.
Made to bat down the order instead of his preferred spot as an opener, the 27-year old looked comfortable from the start of his knock to share in an invaluable stand of 100 with White. The pair were let off the hook by Strauss, who, early in their stand, removed his seamers and brought Jonathan Trott into the attack in an experiment geared towards the World Cup. The move backfired for the England captain, with his spin pair of James Tredwell and Michael Yardy also proving largely ineffective.
Yardy, however, was able to remove White for 45 and the wicket triggered another clutch of quick scalps. Steve Smith, Nathan Hauritz and Brett Lee all continued the trend of getting out to poor strokes and at 142 for eight Australia were once again in huge trouble.
With Marsh still at the crease, Bollinger, with an ODI batting best of three runs, was required to simply hang around with a full 13 overs of the innings still remaining. Instead the Australian number 10 produced a remarkable knock as he clobbered 30 from 30 balls in a stand of 88 with Marsh. The duo claimed 36 runs from the batting Powerplay before Marsh hit two fours and a six off consecutive deliveries to power to his second ODI ton.
Chris Tremlett returned to claim the wickets of both batsmen with consecutive deliveries, but by then the recovery had been complete with Australia finishing 230 all out.
England would still have been confident of chasing down the target, even after losing Prior for a duck in the third over. Bollinger then made a second major impression on the game with a double-strike in his second over to remove Strauss lbw and Kevin Pietersen for a first-ball duck.
At 36 for three, Ian Bell joined Trott and the pair laboured to a 47-run stand from 15 overs, increased the pressure on all the batsmen to come. Both batsmen got out for 32, but with a long batting line-up England were still in the contest with the run-rate still below the six-an-over mark.
Eoin Morgan and Michael Yardy threatened briefly, but with Morgan (21) caught by a fantastic effort by Tait in the outfield and Yardy (22) run out due to his own ill-judgement the tourists hopes of victory faded. Bollinger returned to bag two more wickets and and Shahzad was the last man out, with England finishing 46 runs short and a full five overs unused.
Australia's victory was soured slightly by the double injury blow to Hauritz and Shaun Tait. Hauritz dislocated his right shoulder and had to leave the field, while Tait was forced to pull up in the middle of an over due to a groin strain
