England: 8/246
Australia: 8/152 (D/L target was 186)

Well, England’s tour has finished on a high with a 34 run victory over the Australians in Sydney. The local boys bowled OK and fielded brilliantly, and Glenn McGrath’s one day international career in Australia finished with a wicket off his final ball, just like he did in the Sydney Test. Unfortunately, when it came time for the Aussies to bat the combination of rain interruptions and some beautiful swing bowling from Liam Plunkett was too much to handle. It’s always tough batting second at the SCG, and England’s bowlers didn’t make it any easier by bowling some pretty good lines to the Australians under ideal conditions. Rain swept through all evening, and the storms caused some pretty severe damage around the state. But the real damage was done out on the field by Paul Collingwood … again. (I know, it’s a pretty cheesy quote, but it just had to be said.)

So, the Australians have now lost three games in a row to England, and look to be just a shadow of the team they were a few weeks ago. Where did it all go wrong? Did the loss of Andrew Symonds and the constant team changes have a negative effect on the team? Have they been training too hard for their own good? Or has England simply stepped up a level, thus showing the Australians to be just an ordinary side that has been lucky enough to face poor opposition?

England: 7/270
New Zealand: 8/256

New Zealand threw away a finals berth at the Gabba with some sloppy fielding and careless batting. Falling 14 runs short of a gettable England total, New Zealand only have themselves to blame.

Paul Collingwood finally made some runs with 106, and NZ captain Stephen Fleming also contributed heavily with another 106, but it will be England who plays Australia in the best of three finals series. In this Ashes year, I think that’s entirely appropriate.

Based on last nights effort, I don’t think Australia has too much to worry about. Liam Plunkett is bowling well, but apart from the occasional standout performance, the English batsmen have been largely ineffective. Though as we have seen, if just one of England’s top order can get going then they could post a defendable total. I think the Australian bowling will need to improve further if they really want to dominate things, because at the moment they just look a little vulnerable when under pressure.

It’s going to be an interesting finals campaign. Here’s hoping for a close finish.