England’s stand-in captain Harry Brook continued his impressive form with a half-century in the fifth and final ODI against Australia at County Ground, Bristol. Brook scored 72 off 52 balls, breaking Virat Kohli’s five-year-old record for the most runs by a captain in a bilateral ODI series against Australia.
Brook, leading in the absence of Jos Buttler, has been instrumental in England’s comeback after losing the first two ODIs, leveling the series 2-2 before the decider.
At 25, Brook surpassed Kohli’s 310 runs from five matches in 2019, setting a new mark of 312 runs at an average of 78 and a strike rate of 127.86. Kohli had held the record since Australia’s tour of India. Other notable players on the list include MS Dhoni (285 runs), Eoin Morgan (278), Babar Azam (276), AB de Villiers (271), and Andrew Strauss (267).
In the final ODI, Ben Duckett also starred with 107 off 91 balls, while Brook smashed seven sixes, helping England post 309 in 49.2 overs. However, Brook’s dismissal, caught by Adam Zampa after hitting five sixes, triggered a collapse from 202-2 in the 25th over.
Travis Head, Australia’s fifth spinner, took 4-28 in 6.2 overs on a challenging pitch.
England had tied the series 2-2 after a dominant 186-run win in the fourth ODI at Lord’s. Fast bowler Jofra Archer, who had played back-to-back ODIs for the first time since 2020, was left out of the series decider.