CRICKET:Australia had started the day talking about "the perfect 10". It involved total vanquishing England by completing a 100 per cent record in five Tests, a Twenty20 international and four one-day matches. It was assumed to be inevitable. It never happened. Be thankful for small mercies.
Suddenly, when no one expected it, a thumping 92-run win had provided a release.
England had been in Australia for three days short of three months and, at the final time of asking, they roused themselves.
Ed Joyce's maiden one-day hundred set a victory target of 293 - never achieved in one-day internationals at the SCG - and they defended it passionately, banishing the vicious headlines, rebuilding reputations and assuaging the hurt.
They were helped by the absence of Australia's captain Ricky Ponting with an elbow injury, by a bicep injury to Andrew Symonds that forced him to retire hurt on 39, and by a scatter-gun one-day bowling debut for the untamable South Australian, Shaun Tait, who spilled 68 from 10 very un-Australian overs and who also dropped Joyce amateurishly at third man when he had made only six of his 107.
Tait's drop came as Joyce stepped away to slash Nathan Bracken over third man. He fumbled it and failed to rescue an inviting rebound. "I was just ambling through, thinking it was time to turn round and that was it," said Joyce. "Nine times out of 10 that would get caught."
One time out of 10 it did not: the key component in England's perfect one. Joyce's stature has grown as the one-day series has progressed. He is calm, ordered and seems to possess cricketing nous. Even when he hits the fielders, he hits them with an authoritative ring of the bat. And he has already indicated he is very much his own man, which on dysfunctional tours like this one is important.
Joyce was also dropped on 59, Symonds missing a diving caught-and-bowled to his right, and his hundred came with a miscued hook that raced away to third man. He eventually fell on 107 from 142 balls, 22 balls from the end of England's innings, when he pulled Tait to square leg.
His judicious stand of 111 in 23 overs with Ian Bell was the bedrock. Joyce was methodical on both sides of the wicket; Bell showed more finesse but also more misjudgments, most of which come when he imagines he is more muscular than he is.
Before all that came Mal Loye's colourful opening stand, which included an audacious slog-sweep for six off one knee. When he dropped on to one knee for the fourth time, against Glenn McGrath, he top-edged into his jaw and, while he received treatment, the Australians refused to check on his health, as if disgusted that he was breaking the basic principles of the game. Suitably repaired by a large sticking plaster, he was out pulling McGrath next ball, and went to hospital for the obligatory scan and three stitches. But he had given England a start.
Dalrymple, controversially promoted to number six ahead of Ravi Bopara, on debut, justified it with 30 from 18 balls, although he should question his response after he had run himself out, wrongly refusing Bopara's sprightly call for a second run.
Australia's 293 target had never been achieved under the Sydney lights and Liam Plunkett struck a body blow first ball when a wonderful inswinging yorker bowled Adam Gilchrist. Sajid Mahmood forced Brad Hodge to chop on indecisively, and Plunkett made it 45 for three when Michael Clarke toe-ended a low catch to the wicketkeeper. The match was as good as settled.
Australia then lost three batsmen in four overs. Hayden's half-century ended at short extra, Symonds departed clutching a strapped bicep, and Bopara, nerveless with the ball, bowled Hussey off an inside edge.
"First win in three months, you bloody Pom," some poor sap railed upon leaving the ground. After three months of inferiority, even allowing for English cultural tendencies, it was not quite the occasion for a superior smile.
Guardian Service
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)