Chester-Le-Street: Steven Finn’s figures of 4/37 won him the Man-of-the-Match award and led to England winning the fourth ODI and the series against Australia here on Saturday.
David Hussey’s 70 guided Australia to 200/9, but that wasn’t enough against strong England batting.
Australia were in dire straits at 96/5 when Hussey took guard but his 73-ball innings, featuring nine fours, kept the tourists in the match. Together with Brett Lee, he put on 70 for the seventh wicket.
Fast bowler Finn, twice on a hat-trick, was just shy of his career-best 4/34 which he achieved twice against Pakistan in the UAE earlier this year.
Requiring just over four runs an over to win, England were not hurried in their chase and won the match with 2.1 overs to spare.
Although captain Alastair Cook fell for 29, Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott saw off most of the runs together.
In a tight spell, Clint McKay took both England wickets to fall, but the hosts were really in no danger of losing this match, winning by the comprehensive margin of eight wickets. This is their ninth straight ODI win.
They could have risen to be the world number one team in 50-over cricket in this series had they whitewashed the visiting Aussies 5-0, but rain washed out the third match, sparing Australia from complete shame, as they should hold onto their place on the top spot.
One worry for Australia were the injuries to hit Brett Lee and Shane Watson, which left them unable to bowl many overs. The fifth and final match is on Tuesday. (Agencies)