Plan B Forum

Shane Watson hit a majestic century for Australia as they won the opening one-day international against England with five balls to spare in Melbourne.

First one-day international, Melbourne:
Australia 297-4 (49.1 ovs) beat England 294 (49.4 ovs) by six wickets



Kevin Pietersen struck 78 in a total of 294 as England were bowled out with two balls of their innings remaining.

It was their highest total against Australia on their turf, but Watson got the hosts home on 161 not out from 150 balls, as they won by six wickets.

It was the highest successful run chase ever witnessed at the iconic MCG.

And, exactly 40 years after the first one-day international was played on the same ground, Watson appropriately produced the winning hit, smashing the first ball of the final over for six over long-on.

Australia were some way short of their best in the field, their bowlers sending down 12 wides, while wicketkeeper Brad Haddin missed three stumpings.

But when it came to chasing down the runs, Haddin (39 in an opening stand of 110 with Watson) and Michael Clarke, who made a boundary-free 36 in another big stand worth 107, could afford to take a back seat as Watson coped with tiredness and cramp to smash 12 fours and four sixes under the floodlights.

It was a brilliant display of ball-striking by the big hitting Queenslander.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket ... 362675.stm

Pietersen threatened to take the game completely away from Australia but his departure in the 44th over for 78 - courtesy of an audacious kick on to the stumps by Johnson when chasing a risky single - put paid to the chances of England posting a score well above 300.

Inexperienced all-rounder John Hastings has tipped out paceman Peter Siddle for a berth in Australia's 15-man World Cup squad.

Veteran Michael Hussey was also named despite suffering a serious hamstring injury on Sunday.

Hussey will have his rehabilitation program determined in the next 24 hours but faces a race against the clock to be fit for Australia's World Cup defence.

He will almost certainly miss the entire seven-game series against England, with a replacement yet to be finalised.

Hastings, who has played two games for Australia, has been drafted in to provide all-round cover for Shane Watson.

His versatility edged him ahead of Siddle, Australia's most consistent bowler during the Ashes, and Doherty, the country's best performing slow bowler in domestic 50-over cricket in recent seasons.

SQUAD: Ricky Ponting (c), Michael Clarke (vc), Doug Bollinger, Brad Haddin, John Hastings, Nathan Hauritz, David Hussey, Mike Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Tim Paine, Steve Smith, Shaun Tait, Shane Watson, Cameron White



http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/joh ... 19ui5.html