On September 21 (Saturday), the Australian cricket team extended their winning streak in ODIs (One Day Internationals) by clinching a 68-run massive victory in the second out of the ongoing 5-match ODI series against England. The champions of the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup 2023 are currently leading in the series 2-0 and surpassed Sri Lanka’s streak of 13 wins with a dominating performance against the hosts.
Interestingly, the Australians rank at the leading position for securing 21 consecutive wins in ODIs in 2003, which is the most by any team in international cricket. It includes their unbeaten winning streak in the ODI World Cup 2003. Notably, Australia secured all these victories under Ricky Ponting’s captaincy along with Adam Gilchrist as the vice-captain. Coincidentally, Ponting is currently a member of the commentary team of Sky Sports in the current limited-overs tour of Australia.
How Australia Achieved 14th ODI Winning Streak?
It all started in the 2023 ODI World Cup, where the Aussies lost the first two matches of the tournament against India and South Africa. However, they bounced back and won all the remaining nine matches of the tournament on a trot, including the finals to lift the prestigious trophy for the sixth time and continued their winning streak in the format.
Furthermore, the Aussies won the 3-match ODI home series against West Indies, earlier this year. Additionally, by winning back-to-back games in the current series against England, Australia achieved a record of 14 wins in a row and surpassed the previous record held by Sri Lanka for the second-best streak with 13 wins.
AUS vs ENG 2nd ODI Match Crucial Moments:
Referring to the 2nd ODI match at Headingley, Leeds, Australia batted first and posted a competitive total of 270-10 in 44.4 overs. Initially, England seemed to be in control by controlling Australia to 89-3 in 16.3 overs. But, the crucial half-centuries from the Aussie skipper Mitchell Marsh’s 59-ball-60-run knock (including 6 fours and 3 sixes) and Alex Carey’s 74 runs from 67 balls (including 8 fours and 3 sixes) recovered the team from the unstable position. In response, England succumbed to 202-10 in 40.2 overs.
Mainly, the Australian pacers blew up England’s top order by lowering them to 65-5 in 9.3 overs.
However, the lower order Jacob Bethell (25 runs from 35 balls –including 4 fours), Brydon Carse (26 runs from 46 balls – including 2 fours and 1 six), and Adil Rashid (27 runs from 34 balls – including 2 fours and 1 six) supported Jamie Smith’s knock. This helped prevent England’s innings conclude at an embarrassing total.
Despite his efforts, Jamie Smith missed out on his half-century by just a run and was the top scorer of his side with a score of 49 runs from 61 balls (including 6 fours and 2 sixes).
But, the Australian bowling performance deserves special applause for taming the England batters, which includes the efforts of these bowlers namely:
- Mitchell Starc: 3-50 in 9.2 overs.
- Josh Hazlewood: 2-54 in 8 overs.
- Aaron Hardie: 2-26 in 8 overs (including 2 maiden overs).
- Glenn Maxwell: 2-15 in 6 overs (including a maiden over).
- Adam Zampa: 1-42 in overs.
List of Teams with Most Consecutive Wins in ODIs: Australia at the Leading Position
Here are the teams that achieved the longest winning streak in ODIs and you can find Australia leading in the first two positions based on the list tabulated below:
| Rankings | Teams | Longest Winning Streak in ODIs | Year |
| 1. | Australia | 21 | January 2003 to May 2003 |
| 2. | Australia | 14 and moving forward | October 2023 to September 2024 |
| 3. | Sri Lanka | 13 | June 2023 to October 2023 |
| 4. | South Africa | 13 | February 2005 to October 2005 |
| 5. | Pakistan | 12 | November 2007 to June 2008 |
Final Opinion:
Mitchell Marsh’s led Australian cricket team will be aiming to break its 21-year-old record held since 2003 by targeting to seal the series with a clinical 5-0 victory, thereby stretching their streak from 14 to 17 wins. Australia is confident enough to play the 3rd ODI match of the series against England on September 24 (Tuesday) at Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street.
A win for Australia in the next match would not only declare them as the series winners but also make them rank at the No.1 position in the Men’s ODIs. On the other side, Harry Brook’s England team is in a must-win situation to keep their chances in the hunt of winning the series as well as ruin the Aussies’ hopes of achieving the longest winning streak.
Also, the upcoming white-ball home series against Pakistan featuring 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is from November 04 to November 18, could be a valuable opportunity for Australia to extend their winning streak in the 50-over format. However, it would be possible for the Australians to rewrite history only by winning their next matches of the ongoing and forthcoming ODI series of their international cricket calendar
