With a brilliant unbeaten 100 runs off 83 deliveries which including 4 sixes and 6 fours from Jos Buttler and a 36-ball 53 runs not-out including a couple of sixes and 5 fours by Chris Woakes lifted England to total of 302 for 6 after the visitors were asked to bat in the third One Day International at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday (January 21). On a slow wicket that limited the boundary opportunities, England kept losing wickets at regular intervals with Australia managing to end partnerships just when they were blossoming. But a terrific counter-attack in the death overs from Buttler and Woakes, who added a sensational partnership off 113 runs off 72 balls for the seventh wicket, helped England amass 102 runs in the last 10 overs and finish their innings on a strong note.

Punching through the cover region confidently and putting away anything on the pads with ease, Jason Roy dealt in regular boundaries to help England off to a positive start. Despite finding some swing early on, Mitchell Starc wasn't on the mark and he was soon replaced by Pat Cummins - one of four changes made by Australia for this game - who started with a maiden and troubled Roy on a couple of occasions. It was a slow wicket with some deliveries stopping on the batsmen and that eventually resulted in the dismissals of Roy and Alex Hales in quick succession as the both failed to keep the drive down and paid for their errors.

Brief scores: England 302/6 in 50 overs (Jos Buttler 100*, Chris Woakes 53*; Josh Hazlewood 2-58) vs Australia.