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England Bowled Out for 131 in Perth as McCullum Turns to Pietersen

Meera ChandranPublished 15m ago2 min readBased on 1 source
England Bowled Out for 131 in Perth as McCullum Turns to Pietersen
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England were bowled out for 131 in the first men's one-day international against Australia in Perth, and lost by seven wickets. Bowled out means all ten batters have been dismissed, so the innings is over.

Brendon McCullum, England's white-ball head coach (white-ball means the limited-overs formats, where each side faces a fixed number of overs), described the Perth pitch as like batting on a trampoline. The ball came through at uneven heights and speeds, and England's batters struggled to settle.

Harry Brook, England's one-day captain, explained why Liam Dawson played in place of Adil Rashid. Brook said the surface was seam-friendly, meaning the ball moves off the pitch for fast bowlers, and that spin was not expected to play a major part. Rashid is England's second-highest ODI wicket-taker, so the decision drew attention.

The bigger talking point came from McCullum himself. He said he would hand the post-match debrief to Kevin Pietersen, the former England batter he hired in the summer as a specialist mentor. McCullum said he backed Pietersen to help educate England's batting lineup after the defeat.

That support comes with a timing twist. Pietersen will leave the tour after Sunday's second ODI in Adelaide. He will then fly to India on Monday to speak at a YouTube conference. He had originally planned to return for the T20 leg of the Australia tour, but that plan has changed. His next assignment with England is now expected to be the ODIs in South Africa in January.

The Perth result came after a mixed run for England. They won the one-day series against India and Sri Lanka during the summer. In the recent tri-series in Pakistan, they lost four matches and won one dead rubber, a game with nothing left to play for in the table.

Perth was only the opening match of the series, so there is still plenty of time to respond. Adelaide is next on Sunday. England will also want a stronger showing before the next 50-over World Cup, which is scheduled for southern Africa next year.

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