MANCHESTER — Michael Clarke's century and a disciplined bowling effort propelled Australia to an 88-run victory over England in the second One-Day International Sunday, giving the tourists a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. Still smarting from a 3-0 loss in the Ashes, the Australians outplayed the hosts with bat and ball at Old Trafford. Clarke made a fluent 105 for his eighth ODI century, with his 155-run partnership with George Bailey (82) for the fourth wicket pushing the tourists to 315-7 after being put into bat. England, playing an experimental side with the 2015 World Cup in mind, required a record run-chase to win in Manchester but never got near the target despite some lusty shot-making from Jos Buttler (75) and opener Kevin Pietersen (60). The first ODI was abandoned as a no result Friday following a wash-out. England captain Eoin Morgan helped delay the inevitable with 54 in the forlorn reply but he had already played a key role in his team's demise by opting to bowl first. It backfired and once the Australians recovered from losing opener Shaun Marsh for a duck to the fourth ball of the day, they dominated the match. Clarke, who said he would have batted if he'd won the toss, laid into England's bowlers with a flurry of boundaries and finished with 14 fours for his first ODI hundred against England and the highest individual score by an Australian at Old Trafford. Bailey was even more belligerent. He struck five fours and four sixes in his 67-ball knock. With big-hitting Aaron Finch making a run-a-ball 45 and Shane Watson weighing in with 38, the tourists had already made a fast start and a total of around 350 looked likely when Clarke and Bailey were in the middle. Boyd Rankin's dismissal of Clarke and Matthew Wade in successive balls helped slow the run-rate but Australia still became only the second side in the past 41 ODIs at Old Trafford to pass 300 in the first innings. Mitchell Johnson removed Michael Carberry (4) and Jonathan Trott (0) in the space of three balls to leave England on 9-2 and on the back foot. Pietersen, selected as an opener, crashed some devastating blows to the boundary in a 66-ball cameo that contained six fours and two sixes but when he drove Watson to James Faulkner at extra cover, the hosts were in trouble on 97-4. After Morgan departed, Buttler provided some late entertainment with four fours and two big sixes but the required run-rate was above 12 at that stage and Australia wasn't going to be caught. The third ODI will be played at Edgbaston Wednesday. — AP Scoreboard
Australia S. Marsh c Buttler b Finn 00 A. Finch c Root b Tredwell 45 S. Watson c Buttler b Bopara 38 M. Clarke c Buttler b Rankin 105 G. Bailey c Tredwell b Bopara 82 A. Voges not out 16 M. Wade b Rankin 00 J. Faulkner c Morgan b Finn 18 M. Johnson not out 06 Extras (b1, lb1, w2, nb1) 05 Total (7 wkts, 50 overs) 315 Falls: 0-1 (Marsh), 2-60 (Watson), 3-116 (Finch), 4-271 (Bailey), 5-283 (Clarke), 6-283 (Wade), 7-308 (Faulkner). Did not bat: C. McKay, F. Ahmed. Bowling: Finn 10-1-68-2 (1w); Rankin 10-0-49-2; Stokes 10-0-66-0; Bopara 10-0-57-2 (1nb, 1w); Tredwell 8-0-60-1; Root 2-0-13-0. England K. Pietersen c Faukner b Watson 60 M. Carberry c Clarke b Johnson 04 J. Trott c Wade b Johnson 00 J. Root b Faulkner 03 E. Morgan c Clarke b McKay 54 R. Bopara c and b Voges 01 J. Buttler c Johnson b Ahmed 75 B. Stokes c Bailey b McKay 05 J. Tredwell run out 01 S. Finn c Voges b McKay 16 B. Rankin not out 01 Extras (lb1, w6) 07 Total (all out, 44.2 overs) 227 Falls: 1-8 (Carberry), 2-9 (Trott), 3-38 (Root), 4-97 (Pietersen), 5-103 (Bopara), 6-154 (Morgan), 7-167 (Stokes), 8-169 (Tredwell), 9-216 (Buttler), 10-227 (Finn). Bowling: McKay 9.2-1-47-3; Johnson 10-2-36-2 (3w); Faulkner 8-1-39-1; Voges 6-0-32-1 (3w); Ahmed 7-0-55-1; Watson 4-1-17-1. Man-of-the-Match: Michael Clarke.
