Adelaide: Travis Head, promoted to the top of the order, led Australia to a drought-breaking win over England in the fourth one-day international in Adelaide on Friday.

Replacing injured opener Aaron Finch, Head anchored a shaky Australian run chase with a polished 96, falling just shy of a deserved century and with victory imminent.

England were dismissed for 196 after being sent in to bat in bowler-friendly conditions, losing four of their top six batsmen for ducks as the possibility of a record low score in one-day cricket briefly loomed.

In reply, Australia reached the modest target with 13 overs to spare, finishing on 197 for seven, but the chase was not without concerns as they struggled to win their first game in the five-match series and turn around their dismal recent one-day form. England had already secured the series by taking an unbeatable 3-0 lead in Sydney last Sunday, and that result had left the current World Cup holders with just one win in their past 11 completed ODIs.

Head looked certain to notch his second limited-overs century as Australia closed in on victory, but pulled a short ball from Mark Wood straight to Morgan at mid-on, having faced 107 balls and hit 15 fours.

That England were able to post any sort of competitive total was quite remarkable given their horror collapse in the early overs.

However, Chris Woakes (78) along with Morgan and Moeen Ali (33 each) — and Tom Curran (35) — enabled England to scramble to a decent total.

Woakes continued his excellent form with the bat in the series, hitting five sixes in the 82 balls he faced before being caught on the boundary off Andrew Tye (3-33). The final match of the series is in Perth on Sunday, and is a sell-out as it is the opening of the city’s new stadium.

Agence France-Presse