Southampton: Australia captain Michael Clarke was in no doubt his side "deserved" their 2-1 one-day international series win over England after a 49-run success in their tour finale at Southampton. Shane Watson's 143 and the all-rounder's fourth-wicket partnership of 163 with Clarke (75) took Australia to 298 on Monday, a total that might have been even greater but for 22-year-old England all-rounder Ben Stokes's ODI best five for 61 and debutant seamer Chris Jordan's three for 51 on Monday.
However, Australia had more than enough runs to play with as England managed just 249 in reply before being bowled out under the Ageas Bowl floodlights. After England's preceding 3-0 Ashes series success, the main event of an Australia tour that started with their early exit from the ICC Champions Trophy one-day tournament in Britain and saw them replace sacked coach Mickey Arthur with former Test batsman Darren Lehmann, this series seemed an after-thought.
That was especially so after the first and third matches ended in rain-marred no results, with Clarke making a hundred in Australia's 88-run second ODI win in Manchester before Jos Buttler led England to a series-levelling three-wicket victory in Cardiff on Saturday. "For a lot of people, this series did not mean a lot," Clarke said. "But to us it meant a great deal. Everyone in our dressing-room is excited, and so they should be -- because we deserved this win," the man-of-the-series added.
England's pursuit of 299 never really recovered from the first-over run out of Kevin Pietersen, despite a stand of 92 between Ravi Bopara (62) and Buttler, who followed up his match-winning 65 not out at Sophia Gardens with 42.
Australia were well worth their victory but with England resting five mainstays of their Ashes-winning side -- regular captain Alastair Cook, key batsman Ian Bell, new-ball duo James Anderson and Stuart Broad as well as first-choice spinner Graeme Swann -- Clarke was reluctant to read too much into the result ahead of the return Test series 'Down Under' starting in November.
