Australia set to seal ODI series over England

Australia can heap more pain on England on Sunday with another win to wrap up the one-day international series after just three games. Another win in Sydney would see the hosts claim an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-game ODI series, as England are probably wondering what will go wrong next after James Faulkner snatched victory for Australia in Brisbane on Friday. England looked on track for their first win of the Australian summer at the Gabba after Eoin Morgan's 106 had led them to 300-8 off 50 overs and strong bowling saw the home side slump to 206-7 with 15 overs remaining. But despite losing their second-last wicket in the 44th over and still needing 57 runs to win, Australia managed to embarrass the old enemy yet again, as Faulkner smashed five sixes and three fours in the remaining overs to triumph with three balls left. The tourists must improve their bowling 'at the death' with Faulkner taking advantage of naive tactics from Ben Stokes and Tim Bresnan to ensure Australia emerged victorious. All five of Faulkner's sixes came off Stokes' bowling with the New Zealand-born all-rounder regularly putting the ball in the slot for the Australian to swing his arms. With James Anderson rested from the ODIs, Steven Finn sent home and Stuart Broad left out of the first two games, England seem to lack firepower with the ball, while two members of their top four bats have failed to reach double figures in both matches, making it difficult to set up a winning score. Morgan came to England's rescue in Brisbane, while Gary Ballance's 79 in Melbourne at least gave his side's total a note of respectability. But in general the batting line-up needs an overhaul with captain Alastair Cook arguably not suited to modern ODI cricket, while Joe Root (three and two) has failed at number three. For Australia, just about every player used in the opening two contests has contributed to victory and there seems to be little for captain Michael Clarke and coach Darren Lehmann to work on. The Australian set-up will rightly have taken notice of the way they regularly lost wickets throughout Friday's innings in Brisbane, while it would have been frustrating to see Shaun Marsh and Glenn Maxwell both make half centuries and then failing to continue. But it seems only a matter of time before Australia wrap up the series, while most will expect that to happen at the SCG on Sunday.