England 342 for 8 (Roy 120, Buttler 91*) beat Australia 304 (Marsh 131, Plunkett 4-53) by 38 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
England's cricketers inflicted the final blow of a miserable day for Australian sport by taking a 38-run victory - and a two-nil series lead - in the Royal London ODI in Cardiff.
On a day that had already seen Australia's male international teams lose to France (in the football World Cup) and Ireland (in a rugby union international), England registered the highest score they had ever made against Australia in ODI cricket and the highest score made in an ODI in Cardiff. It was enough to see Australia's cricketers suffer the same fate as their compatriots and means that England have now won seven of the last eight ODIs between these sides. It makes Scotland's success over England in Edinburgh a week ago seem ever more impressive.
The result was a cruel return for Shaun Marsh after a hugely impressive innings. Only recalled for this series due to the suspensions of David Warner and Steve Smith, Marsh made his first ODI century in almost five years - his previous one came against Scotland in September 2013 - and gave England quite a scare in the process. Demonstrating a cool head and some blistering strokes - one six over long-off against Mark Wood was among the strokes of the day - he lacked the support to make it a match-winning innings, but did not deserve to be on the losing side.
Despite losing and their captain, Eoin Morgan, to a back spasm minutes before the toss, England registered stands of at least 50 for each of their first five wickets - the first time such a feat had been achieved in ODI cricket - with Jason Roy going on to achieve his fifth ODI century and Jos Buttler finishing unbeaten on 91. Morgan's injury saw Buttler captain England and meant that, for the first time in men's internationals between these teams, both sides were led by keepers.
The foundation for the England innings was provided by Roy. Almost a year to the day since he was dropped from their team for the ICC Champions Trophy semi-final at this ground, Roy drove and pulled with tremendous power. In partnership with Jonny Bairstow, who looked in supreme form, Roy shrugged off losing the toss - England admitted they would have batted first anyway - and posted a fifty stand within the first 35 deliveries of the match.
With Bairstow in such fluent form, Roy was able to take a little time to play himself in. And, despite losing Bairstow, to an edged cut, Alex Hales, who was hurried by a fine delivery that nipped back between bat and pad, and Joe Root, who was brilliantly caught by D'Arcy Short diving forward at deep square-leg, Roy was able to power on to his fifth ODI century off 97 balls.
But when he fell with 14 overs remaining - victim of a fine, diving catch down the leg side from Tim Paine, just a few balls after the keeper had taken a painful blow to the face from one that bounced just in front of him - it seemed England may lose their way. The next four overs realised just 14 as Australia's bowlers came to terms with a surface that responded well to the use of cutters and slower balls. Few of England's middle-order were able to adapt.
Only Buttler was able to break the shackles in the final dozen or so overs. He ramped Jhye Richardson for successive sixes, skipped down the pitch to chip the impressive Marcus Stoinis over mid-wicket and punished the luckless Andrew Tye - who conceded an eye-watering 81 from his nine overs.
Might Paine regret his decision to bowl first? As the match progressed, the pitch showed a few signs of irregular bounce and seemed more susceptible to both spin and slower deliveries gripping form the seamers. Moeen Ali, gaining enough turn to challenge the batsmen, bowled particularly well - he ended Short's torturous innings when the batsmen edged an off-break to slip and then lured a frustrated Glenn Maxwell into a mis-timed drive that lofted to mid-on - while Liam Plunkett produced a cross-seam delivery that kept a little lower than Stoinis expected. By the time Finch, batting at No.5 in the hope of adding some solidity to the middle-order, missed an attempted sweep and departed for a duck, Australia were in deep trouble.
Marsh at least provided some reason for cheer. The fall of Maxwell left Australia requiring 179 from the final 20 overs but, in partnership with the admirable Ashton Agar, Marsh added 96 in 12 overs for the sixth wicket to leave England - both in the field and with the ball - looking just a little ragged. An Adil Rashid googly - and smart stumping - from Buttler accounted for Agar, while Paine's cameo was ended when he pulled to long-leg the ball after being dropped by Moeen at point. When Marsh, left with tailenders, was bowled by a Plunkett cutter that gripped just a little, Australia's last chance departed with him.
To be fair to Australia, they are nowhere near full strength. To add to their long list of absentees - at least five first-choice players are not on this tour due to a combination of injury or suspension - they lost Billy Stanlake ahead of the game due to a toe injury (Jhye Richardson took his place), while the seam-bowling all-rounder, Michael Neser, was dropped in favour of Short, who came in for his ODI debut.
And, in that stand with Agar, Marsh showed up a few of the weaknesses that were apparent in England's bowling effort in Edinburgh. It might provide a glimmer of encouragement for Australia - and a hint of concern for England - with the World Cup to come in a year.
They're in trouble in this series, though. Two-down with three to play, they have to win at Trent Bridge on Tuesday to keep this series alive.
