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Eoin Morgan leads England to messy victory over Australia in first ODI

England record a three-wicket victory over Australia at The Oval in the opening ODI of their five-match series.

England have taken a 1-0 lead in their five-match one-day international series with Australia courtesy of a three-wicket victory at The Oval.

England's spinners did most of the damage against an Australian team playing their first ODI match since the ball-tampering scandal which rocked the sport, resulting in bans for Steve Smith and David Warner, in addition to the resignation of coach Darren Lehmann.

The hosts made hard work of their run-chase target of 215, though, with Eoin Morgan needed to steady the ship and help them to a victory which keeps them top of the ODI world rankings.

David Willey in action during the ODI between England and Australia on June 13, 2018© Reuters

Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid took five wickets between them as Australia fell to 90-5 at one stage, with none of their opening batsmen making more than 24 runs.

Glenn Maxwell (62) and Ashton Agar (40) were the only players to put up a real battle and drag Australia to a final total of 214, although England did not fare much better at first either.

Jason Roy was bowled for a duck after only two balls and the wickets of Alex Hales (5) and Jonny Bairstow (28) left the hosts struggling on 38-3.

A 115-run partnership between Joe Root (50) and Morgan (69) put England back in control of the contest, but they then lost three wickets for just 10 runs, with new Australia captain Tim Paine claiming the scalps of both Root and Morgan.

David Willey saw England over the line with an unbeaten 35, though, as the home side wrapped up the victory with six overs to spare.

The second ODI of the five-match series will take place in Cardiff on Saturday.

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Barney Corkhill
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