‘Can’t believe he’s 35!’ – Dawid Malan’s fighting century against Australia in first ODI sets Twitter on fire

England and Australia faced off against each other in the first match of the three-match ODI series on November 17, Thursday and the Three Lions batters were put to test after having a stellar 20-20 World Cup 2022, which they eventually won by defeating Pakistan in the summit clash. 

To add more to the first innings, while opener Jason Roy returned to the pavilion for 6 runs, James Vince and captain Jos Buttler made their way back to the dressing room after gathering 5 and 29 runs respectively. Philip Salt and Sam Billings contributed 14 and 17 runs to England’s scoreboard and it was Dawid Malan who steadied the Three Lions‘ innings with his fighting century. 

Regarding Malan’s innings, with wickets crumbling at the other end, the southpaw looked rock solid and unbeatable and managed to put up the bad deliveries for boundaries as well. The left-handed batter scored ten fours and two sixes on his course to reach the three-figure mark, while also helping steady England’s innings. 

The talented batter eventually reached his century off 107 balls and looked steady to make it count for England and convert it into a big inning. At the end of 40 overs, the Three Lions were reeling at 215 for the loss of 7 wickets. 

Australia pacers shine despite Dawid Malan’s heroics

However, it was the Australian pacers who were brimming with fire in the opener of the three-match ODI series as Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins toyed with the English batters right from the start. To add more to Starc’s first spell, it was his inswinger that cleaned up Roy, while captain Cummins sent back Vince and Salt to the dressing room. 

Marcus Stoinis contributed to the tally as he bagged the wicket of wicketkeeper Billings, while leg spinner Adam Zampa removed Chris Jordan and England captain Buttler. The mighty England batting attack looked unsettled and struggled to come up with the right shots while the Kangaroos’ pace battery kept pitching it hard. Australia, under the leadership of Cummins, would look to turn things around and with the 50-over World Cup set to take place in India in 2023, the team management would hope to get things right.

As things stand, let us take a look at a few Twitter reactions to Malan’s great-hearted century: