Eng Vs Aus: Pat Cummins accounts for an in-form Jonny Bairstow with a 'superb' delivery

Jonny Bairstow played a counter-attacking knock after England were two down with nothing on the board riding on  Aussie pace spearhead Mitchell Starc's early jolts off the first two balls of the series-deciding third ODI at the Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester on Wednesday. He took the Australian bowlers to the cleaners with some spectacular shots. His hard work paid off as he ended up scoring a spectacular century and just when it looked like the limited-overs specialist would take his side, to a formidable total, he was sent back courtesy of a dream delivery from Pat Cummins.

'Superb piece of bowling'

This happened in the 41st over of the first innings. On the very first delivery, Cummins got rid of the danger man with a clever display of bowling. He bowled one around the off-stump as the ball came back inside sharply after pitching. It was kind of a slower one which completely deceived the batsman. Bairstow decided to guide it towards the third man for a single but it backfired as the ball took the inside edge of his bat and ended up shattering his off-stump. 

Jonny Bairstow walked back for a brilliant 126-ball 112 at a strike rate of 88.9 that included 12 boundaries and a couple of maximums.

Who will have the last laugh?

England staged a remarkable comeback by winning the previous ODI as they successfully defended a modest score of 231 to level the three-match series 1-1. At one stage, it looked as if the Aussies would cruise towards an easy win when the scorecard read 144/2. However, as soon as skipper Aaron Finch and Marnus Labushagne were dismissed in quick successions, their middle-order suffered a dramatic collapse, and even though wicket-keeper batsman  Alex Carey ignited the Australian hopes with a vital 36, he did not receive any support from the other end and once the asking rate got steeper, he had to go for big shots and was eventually stumped by his counterpart Jos Buttler off leggie Adil Rashid as the visitors were bundled out for 209.

It now remains to be seen whether the reigning ODI world champions can do the double over their arch-rivals (The hosts had won the T20I series 2-1) or will the five-time world champions have the last laugh by emerging triumphant in the 50-overs format?

READ: Eng Vs Aus: Leggie Adam Zampa Gets Eoin Morgan's Number For The Third Straight Time