England were bowled out for just 131 runs in the first one-day international in Perth, their innings lasting 33.4 overs. Australia replied with 132-3 in 23.3 overs to secure the victory.
The hero of the match was 21-year-old Mahli Beardman, who took 6-24 on his ODI cricket debut. He claimed his first international wicket in the second over, dismissing Harry Brook, before Joe Root fell for 17 runs. Beardman then removed Tom Banton, Jordan Cox and Sam Curran. His opening spell of five overs finished with an impressive 5-18, and he occasionally bowled at speeds exceeding 90 miles per hour. He recorded the best figures by an Australian player on an ODI cricket debut.
The English batters in Perth were largely dismissed on the bat. Ben Duckett, Banton and Root, as well as later Beardman victims Liam Dawson and Jofra Archer, fell to the bat. Banton edged a front-foot drive, Duckett left-handed Spencer Johnson's delivery to backward point, Root also edged one, Cox was uncertain off the crease for two runs, and Curran top-edged a hook to fine leg, also against Beardman, for seven balls without a run. Johnson added the wickets of Jamie Overton and Jacks to Duckett's. From 65-8, Will Jacks offered brief resistance with 25 runs, while Gus Atkinson hit the only six of the innings and finished unbeaten on 29. Xavier Bartlett, 27, was also impressive with the new ball.
Australia chased the target led by captain Mitchell Marsh, who smashed 50 runs off 29 balls, including four sixes over the leg side. After Marsh (50) and Cooper Connolly (27) were dismissed, Josh Inglis and Matthew Renshaw guided Australia to victory. Travis Head fell for a duck on the first ball. On only two previous occasions have the Australians beaten England with so many balls remaining.
The day began with a statement by David Warner on Australian television, who accused Patrick Cummins of having 'pushed Khawaja under a bus'. Captain Mitchell Marsh dodged questions about ball tampering on multiple occasions at a press conference on Thursday. Otherwise, Beardman would likely not have played in this series had Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood not been rested.
England suffered damaging defeats in three-match series against Pakistan and Sri Lanka last month, and now have four losses in their last five matches. This was the 15th time England have been bowled out in 29 ODIs since Brendon McCullum took over as coach, and 11 of those instances occurred when they were batting first. Former England captain Michael Vaughan said on Test Match Special that England are struggling. Coach Brendon McCullum stated that England were not fast enough to adapt to the conditions and that they had discussed extensively before the match the surface at Optus, which somewhat resembled playing on a trampoline. The second of three ODIs is played on Sunday in Adelaide at 03:30 GMT.
