ENG vs AUS 2018: Tim Paine Calls for Batting Improvement after Oval Loss

Australia skipper, Tim Paine has called for a massive improvement from the side’s top order after they were all out for 214 in the first ODI at Oval against England. Eventually, Australia suffered a three-wicket loss.

Meanwhile, Paine elected to bat first in a perfect condition, but their woes with the bat resurfaced once again. Australia struggled against their spinners with Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid sharing five wickets among them.

A well-made 62 from Glenn Maxwell and 40 from Ashton Agar helped the tourists recover from 5-90 and past 200. However, it was not enough despite great efforts from their young seamers.

“It was really simple, we just didn’t get enough runs out of our top five,” Paine said. “You don’t win too many one-day games when the highest score out of your top five is 22 or 23 runs,” he added.

Paine said he and coach Justin Langer might look at changing the side for Saturday’s match. They are looking to play an extra batsman with D’Arcy Short or Alex Carey waiting in the wings.

A rookie Australian did well, as England reached their target with six overs remaining finishing at 7-218. England’s response got off to a shaky start, as they slipped to 3-38 but, led by skipper Eoin Morgan (69) and Root, they recovered to 3-153 before Australia fought back to reduce the hosts to 7-197.

But David Willey got them over the line, finishing 35 not out.

The team is working hard

Paine conceded it wasn’t good enough but said the team have been working hard. He also added it is a work in progress and they are getting better at it.

“It’s something the whole group has been working on and something we speak about a lot,” he said. “It’s a work in progress, we know we haven’t been fantastic at it, but we are training really hard at it and if we can get some set batters in when they start, it would make a big difference,” he concluded.

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