Players in the build-up had used words and phrases such as “going hard” and “aggression”, but timing and grace undid Australia last night as Eoin Morgan’s third one-day international hundred gave his adopted country a 1-0 lead in the NatWest Series.
The brilliance of the Middlesex player made light of a 268-run target and when he took off his helmet after completing the win with 24 balls to spare it was surprising to see sweat trickling on to flush-pink cheeks, so effortless had he made batting seem.
If Michael Clarke had shown high class in an unbeaten 87 from 97 balls, then Morgan trumped him. Pushes raced to the boundary, clips bisected the smallest gaps between fielders. His sixteenth four brought victory and also raised his century from 85 balls.
Andrew Strauss, the captain, ranked it “one of the best innings I have seen in an England shirt” and, while he refused to be drawn into comparisons with Kevin Pietersen — perhaps for concern that he might upset Pietersen — he did describe Morgan as “the Michael Bevan-type of cricketer we have been looking for”.
The loss of four wickets before they had reached 100 on a pitch with something for everybody left England in a struggle that was all too familiar in the 6-1 series defeat last year. Morgan, though, found sensible support from Luke Wright in a fifth-wicket stand of 95 in 92 balls and made sure that he saw through the job.
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There was the occasional moment of audacity, such as a scissoring uppercut against Doug Bollinger and a reverse swish against Nathan Hauritz. But most of his runs came from conventional shots; the skill is not in owning a bulging quiver of arrows but to know what to fire and when.
Ricky Ponting, the Australia captain, suggested that his bowlers had made life too easy. “If you give most international batsmen half-volleys, they generally hit them,” Ponting said. “Morgan played very, very well, it was a special innings, but we did not put pressure on him to have to hit boundaries.”
As for Australia’s own innings, they never matched the pace of the previous 50-over meeting, in the Champions Trophy semi-final last October, when Shane Watson and Ponting seared the bowling with unbeaten hundreds. England were still some way from their best in the field, though, while Strauss erred on the defensive with some of his settings. Clarke and Mike Hussey manoeuvred enough relatively easy singles through an infield policed by only the minimum four fielders to be able to construct a recovery partnership of 70 under less pressure than an unpromising starting point of 98 for four demanded.
Not that the bowling was especially awry. Any complaints that England dropped short too often had to be tempered with Watson and Ponting being dismissed playing the pull shot, while Tim Paine and Cameron White chopped on when cutting. Wright maintained enough discipline to suggest he should be used more often.
Mike Yardy’s variations of pace and use of the crease proved more effective than the subtler spin of Graeme Swann, whose early exchanges with Clarke as the batsman sought form made for a compelling half-hour. It took Clarke 30 balls to record a boundary, but his footwork gradually returned.
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Until Morgan’s entrance, the second innings mirrored the first. Strauss clipped two balls from the opening over to the leg-side ropes but soon pushed at a good ball by the impressive Ryan Harris. Then Pietersen, having emerged to a generous reception and survived what replays showed to be a thin edge behind before he had scored, watched Ponting dive forward at backward point to hold a loose drive.
Craig Kieswetter took a Twenty20 approach before becoming a first wicket for Josh Hazlewood. At 19 years and 165 days, Australia’s youngest player in the format maintained his composure when batsmen tried to capitalise on inevitable nerves.
As Ponting said, it was the more experienced bowlers who could have done more to tie Morgan down — though he would probably have found another way through.
One particularly happy man sat among the 18,000 crowd. Rod Bransgrove, the Hampshire chairman, cut a nervous figure on Monday and it will be some time before the £45 million redevelopment is complete. The capacity will increase to 25,000. As it happened, Bransgrove need not have worried. The Rose Bowl was a picture and the stands packed.
Unfortunately for his own ambitions, plans to stage a 20-over game on July 22 between Hampshire and Rajasthan Royals, the twin club, appear to have been thwarted by the reluctance of the ECB to countenance the fixture, which might have been a final appearance by Shane Warne.
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Scoreboard from the Rose Bowl
Australia
S R Watson c and b Broad 32
†T D Paine b Wright 26
*R T Ponting c Broad b Wright 21
M J Clarke not out 87
C L White b Anderson 10
M E K Hussey c Kieswetter b Yardy 28
J R Hopes c Bresnan b Anderson 34
N M Hauritz c Strauss b Broad 22
R J Harris not out 0
Extras (lb 2, w 4, nb 1) 7
Total (7 wkts, 50 overs) 267
J R Hazlewood and D E Bollinger did not bat.
Fall of wickets: 1-52, 2-66, 3-86, 4-98, 5-168, 6-225, 7-266.
Bowling: Anderson 9-1-43-2; Bresnan 8-1-49-0; Broad 8-0-54-2; Wright 7-1-34-2; Yardy 10-2-41-1; Swann 8-0-44-0.
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England
*A J Strauss c Paine b Harris 10
†C Kieswetter b Hazlewood 38
K P Pietersen c Ponting b Watson 29
P D Collingwood c Hopes b Watson 11
E J G Morgan not out 103
L J Wright lbw b Harris 36
T T Bresnan b Harris 27
M H Yardy not out 1
Extras (lb 8, w 4, nb 1) 13
Total (6 wkts, 46 overs) 268
G P Swann, S C J Broad and J M Anderson did not bat.
Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-75, 3-81, 4-97, 5-192, 6-263.
Bowling: Bollinger 9-0-48-0; Harris 9-2-42-3; Hazlewood 7-0-41-1; Watson 8-1-55-2; Hopes 5-0-30-0; Hauritz 8-0-44-0.
Umpires: Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and I J Gould (England).
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TV umpire: R K Illingworth (England).
Match referee: J Srinath (India).
Schedule: Tomorrow: SWALEC Stadium: Second one-day international (2.30). Sunday: Old Trafford: Third one-day international (10.45). Wednesday: June 30: Brit Oval: Fourth one-day international (1pm): Saturday: July 3: Lord’s: Fifth one-day international (10.45).