AUS vs ENG: "It Was Pretty Exciting And A Little Bit Nerve-Wracking, I Certainly Enjoyed It And It Was A Bit Of A Challenge" - Australia's Stand-In Skipper Josh Hazlewood

Australia beat England by 72 runs in the second game of the three-match One-Day International (ODI) series at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday, November 19. The Aussies take a 2-0 lead in the three-match ODI series.

Josh Hazlewood became Australia’s 28th ODI captain after regular captain Pat Cummins was rested for the second ODI against world champion England. Australia did not announce a vice-captain for the series after Cummins was announced as the new captain last month.

Hazlewood admitted that he was nervous before the second ODI due to his lack of captaincy experience. According to cricket.com.au, Hazlewood has taken over as Australia’s ODI captain, with Cummins’ workload being monitored ahead of effectively five back-to-back Tests beginning on November 30.

“While the fast bowler was elevated to the Test vice-captaincy in 2018 and has been around the limited-overs ‘leadership group’ for some time, prior to Saturday’s match at the SCG, Hazlewood had never led a side in his 14-year professional career,” according to the report.

“It was pretty exciting and a little bit nerve-wracking. I certainly enjoyed it and it was a bit of a challenge there while that (James Vince and Sam Billings) partnership was going. And then we got a couple of wickets and that set the game up,” Hazlewood said after the match.

Earlier, after opting to bat first, Australia scored 280 for the loss of eight wickets, led by Steve Smith’s 114-ball 94, which included five fours and one six. Marnus Labuschagne and Mitchell Marsh also contributed half centuries to Australia’s challenging total.

After being asked to chase 281, England Lions lost the early wickets of Jason Roy, Phil Salt, and Dawid Malan. James Vince and Sam Billings put on 122 runs for the fourth wicket. England’s last seven wickets were lost for 52 runs in 11 overs.

There Weren’t Any Times I Had To Step In At All Or Argue – Josh Hazlewood

The 31-year-old made the important decision to reintroduce himself into the attack to break the 122-run stand between Vince and Billings. Vince’s dismissal proved to be the turning point of the match, as he was trapped LBW for 60. The Aussie skipper finished with 2/33 from seven overs despite conceding 0/21 in his opening two overs.

“I was thinking about everyone else’s bowling rather than my own at the start,” Hazlewood said. “But (eventually) got into a groove there. And then everything seemed to flow pretty well. Obviously we’ve got Kez (Alex Carey) there, quite an experienced keeper to do all the angles with the field and different things. And the two spinners (Ashton Agar and Adam Zampa) have played a lot of cricket. They know their fields so I stayed out of their way as best I could.

“There weren’t any times I had to step in at all or argue, so it was smooth sailing,” he added.

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