Jofra Archer bowls an absolute snorter to stun David Warner in the first ODI

Visitors Australia, after suffering a thumping 2-1 defeat in the T20I series, were put in to bat first by England in the first ODI of the three-match series. The opening duo of David Warner and skipper Aaron Finch took guard at Old Trafford while aiming to stitch a dominant partnership at the start.

However, to their disappointment, Australia were struck with a major blow after Warner was shown the exit door by Jofra Archer in the fourth over. The England pacer bowled an absolute snorter to break Warner’s defence, providing England with a crucial breakthrough.

Warner, who scored 6 off 14 deliveries, didn’t look in good touch since the start and Archer baffled the southpaw and produced a beauty to draw first blood. Taking it away from the left-hander, Archer produced a stunner to knock the top of off-stump with late movement.

Oh, Jof 😍

Scorecard & Clips: https://t.co/FTTwAkwEXU#ENGvAUS pic.twitter.com/i733oSWOrQ

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) September 11, 2020

After Warner’s departure, England plunged more misery on the visitors by scalping wickets at regular intervals. Skipper Finch was shown the exit door in the 10th over, leaving Australia reeling at 43/2. All-rounder Marcus Stoinis did provide some resistance in the middle but he was eventually dismissed on 43. Stoinis, promoted to 3 in Steve Smith’s absence, scored an impressive 43 before getting dismissed off Wood’s delivery. Mark Wood plucked the wickets of Finch and Stoinis to put England in the driving seat.

Australia have lost five wickets within 25 overs

With the scoreboard reflecting 80/3, Australia had a daunting task to keep the run-flow ticking. The leg-spin brilliance of Adil Rashid jolted the Aussies with another two blows as Marnus Labuschagne and Alex Carey were also shown the exit door.

At present, Australia have stitched 184/5 on the back of Mitchell Marsh’s resilient knock. Marsh, cruising towards his half-century is stuck in the middle along with Glenn Maxwell. Having lost five wickets within 25 overs, Aussies still have a long way to go before they put up a challenging total on the scoreboard. The Marsh-Maxwell duo is currently playing riskfree cricket to build a much-needed partnership in the middle overs.

The three-match ODI series is a part of the ICC men’s World Cup Super League. The series also marks Australia’s first games of the Super League, en route to their 2023 World Cup path. England, on the other hand, are leading the points table of the World Cup Super League, having won two matches against Ireland.