Shadow side lose but Giles can still see a bright future

For Australia, the series saw them partially make amends for their Ashes struggles.

“We’ve worked extremely hard and this is a nice reward,” said Aussie skipper Michael Clarke. “I hope we put a smile on the faces of the Australian people watching us. Now it’s about continuing to perform for this team. We want to be the No1 one-day team in the world.”

Australia are now second in one-day global cricket in the International Cricket Council rankings, one place above England but still below India.

England completed their 3-0 Ashes triumph at The Kia Oval last month following a draw in the fifth and final Test. Events in those five Tests overshadowed the one-dayers but Clarke insisted it was still a vital series for him and his team.

“For a lot of people, this series didn’t mean much but to us it meant a great deal,” he said. “We haven’t performed as we would have liked in one-day international cricket in recent years here.”

England set up a decider by winning by three wickets in Cardiff on Saturday but, after a strong start by their bowlers at the Ageas Bowl, they failed to make in-roads while Clarke and Shane Watson, who starred with 143 runs off 107 deliveries, were together.

A late collapse by the Australians saw them all out for 298 but, in response, England fell 49 runs short.

Had England been successful, it would have been a record run chase at the venue but captain Eoin Morgan insisted they were more than capable of achieving the target.

“At one stage, they looked like getting about 350 so to restrict them to under 300 on a very good wicket, we felt it was a chaseable total,” he said. “It was disappointing not to get closer.”

Durham moved nearer to the County Championship title as they skittled out Nottinghamshire for just 78 on the first morning of their clash at Trent Bridge.

Jamie Harrison took three wickets for just four runs and the visitors then reached 16 without loss at lunch.

Durham will take the Division One crown if they win and score more than 250 in their first innings.